"In any case, Vladimir Ashkenazy has chosen a different route and assembled a very smart program ... On the whole, these are excellent performances. Bass-baritone Shenyang is a very impressive soloist, comfortable with the language, and he delivers the text of Stepan Razin with a firm tone and total conviction. The choir sings with clarity and bite, and the orchestra plays powerfully ... A valuable addition to the Shostakovich discography".
"Det er en dramatisk oplevelse at tage hul på de tre kantater af Sjostakovitj, som Paavo Järvi har med på denne nyudgivelse. De to skrevet for at please Stalins regime, mens den tredje ... indeholder en slet skjult fædrelandskritik. Der er alt på spil for Sjostakovitj, og det mærker man uafbrudt i Järvis omgang med materialet. Er Sjostakovitj lidt tung at danse med, er Järvi til gengæld dejlig følsom i sin fortolkning".
"Es ist 'russischer' Schostakowitsch - düster, blockhaft ... Alle beteiligten transportieren den düsteren Inhalt mit geradezu krimineller Energie und zusammengebissenen Zähnen ... Vladimir Ashkenazy holt - bei durchweg raschen Tempi - ein Höchstmass an Aggression und Agilität aus Chor und Orchester, so dass die Partitur unter den Händen und Kehlen dieser Musiker die Qualität eines Hauptwerks entwickelt".
BBC music magazine
2015 August
By
By
David Nice
2015 August
"Bass Alexei Tanovitski could be more nuanced, but there's no faulting the Estonians' open, searing sounds ... Bright, open children's voices join authentic choral fervour and the engineering gives a superb, widescreen picture".
Diapason
2015 juillet-août
By
By
Patrick Szersnovicz
2015 juillet-août
Berlingske tidende
d. 8. Dec. 1999
By
d. 8. Dec. 1999
The gramophone
2013 December
By
By
David Fanning
2013 December
"For anyone who grew up , as I did, with the raw energy of Kondrashin on Melodiya in 1965, the sheer refinement and shapeliness of Ashkenazy's recording may take some getting used to. In this case, however, the gains easily outweigh any losses - the music simply feels more musical this way".
International record review
2013 December
By
By
Mark Pullinger
2013 December
"There is plenty of lusty orchestral playing for Ashkenazy ... The Latvian State Choir produces an almost Orthodox choral sound ... The current recording is certainly worth acquiring, especially as it is partnered by some tempting rarities ... Despite the unbalanced programme, this is an intriguing disc".
The gramophone
2015 July
By
By
David Fanning
2015 July
"[There isn't] much that performers can do, beyond giving them a maximum of welly. Which is precisely what Paavo Järvi and his Estonian forces do ... There are certainly no forces I would rather listen to in this repertoire than the ones assembled for this acoustically resplendent disc".