Symphony no 7

"This magnificent 2008 recording of Shostakovich's mighty Seventh Symphony with Yuri Temirkanov and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic is even better than the magnificent 1995 RCA recording with the same performers ... The difference, perhaps, is that this recording is live, and the audience's energy and enthusiasm is reflected and amplified by musicians, resulting in a performance of staggering power, unrelenting passion, and wholehearted belief in the greatness of the music".

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"The playing is not only well drilled throughout the four movements, it is also steeped in atmosphere that evokes a whole spectrum of emotions that seem to come as close to the nub of what Shostakovich was experiencing and voicing through his music as it is possible to be ... Petrenko's vision of it is thoroughly compelling".

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"Går man med forhåbninger om at høre Sjostakovitjs fem kvarter lange Leningrad-symfoni med et skæbnesvangert sug fra en belejrings mørke understrøm, bliver man ikke skuffet. Sult og sejr gennemsyrer fortolkningen fra Paavo Järvi og det russiske toporkester. Der er præcision i anvisningerne fra podiet, og balancen mellem instrumentgrupperne er eminent ... Man sidder rystet tilbage".

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"Nuancenreicher ausmusiziert als in dieser Live-Aufnahme ist die 'Leningrader' selten zu hören ... Bei aller Kraftanstrengung wirken die zahlreichen Steigerungen und Höhepunkte als logische Fixpunkte einer genuin sinfonischen entwicklung. Das Orchester bewegt sich grössenteils auf höchstem Niveau".

"Nelsons and the CBSO propel the opening paragraph of the Symphony with tremendous energy and heroic determination, adopting a tempo that is perhaps a notch faster than Shostakovich's more measured direction of Allegretto ... There is some sensitive playing from the CBSO's wind section ... There's no doubt that this performance has many impressive moments".

"Where Shostakovich's genius burns brighter earlier in the Symphony, Jansons asks for even more in the way of articulation than the sound demands .. Only if you want the whole thing ugly and raucous in true Soviet style will you want something different".

"Orchestral choice: Recorded in remarkably vivid sound at the Barbican in December 2019, this is an exceptionally fine performance. Gianandrea Noseda brings a tremendous sense of strength and purpose to the opening ... The LSO's principal wind players excel in their many solos".

"Ingen anden symfoni har haft så omfattende en virkningshistorie som "Leningradsymfonien" (Sjostakovitj' syvende) ... Dette kommer især frem i den lidt specielle indspilning med London Symphony Orchestra og den italienske dirigent Gianandrea Noseda. Den udmærker sig på to måder: i sin klanglige tilgang og sit fokus i finalesatsen. Frem for at lægge vægt på krigens gru og skarpe lyde er vægten i stedet lagt på æstetik og klang ... [Og] finalesatsens fokus, som både i tempo og klang ikke bliver fejende triumferende men tvetydig - lige i Sjostakovitjs ånd ... Det er elegant fortolket af Noseda og London-symfonikerne".

"Paavo Järvi's Leningrad is the opposite of his father's 1988 epic with the Scottish National Orchestra - light, laconic and sonically lean where Neeme's recording was spectacularly big in every way".

"Sjostakovitjs sjunde symfoni, Leningrad, och Valery Gergiev är vänner. De har träffats förr och som alltid när de sammanstrålar så uppstår ett intressant utbyte och ljuv musik ... Förtrollande spelat av Mariinsky Orchestra. Ännu en fin utgåva i Gergievs serie om Sjostakovitjs 15 symfonier".

"Grosse interpretatorische Schwierigkeiten bereiteten nicht nur die gewaltigen Dimensionen des Werkes ... sondern auch Tempovorschriften ... Dass diese Probleme in einer russischen Einspielung mit besten Kräften überzeugend gelöst werden, war zu erwarten. Aber Valery Gergiev lässt zudem Motive und Themen, ja den einzelnen Ton ungemein intensiv und gewichtig artikulieren, ohne doch die Musik mit emotionalem Überdruck zu belasten".

"This is at least Mariss Jansons's third recording of the 'Leningrad' ... In this new recording ... Jansons's broad and noble charaterisation of the Symphony's opening ... is certainly not as arresting as the vigorous and purposeful start of his previous recording with the Royal Concertgebouw ... The rest, though adequately done, is not on the level of Jansons's recording with the RCO".

"Hvor god en dirigent, Petrenko er, kan man forvisse sig om på den nyeste udgivelse ... den 80 minutter lange Leningradsymfoni. Og den spilles simpelthen forbløffende godt. Mere berømte orkestermaskiner bliver fejet af banen af andetholdet fra England, der er i topform. Petrenko styrer musikken med klart blik og stærke, seje bevægelser, og optagelser er spektakulær med et markant nærvær ... En fremragende orkesterleder".

"Äusserste Transparenz in Kombination mit dirigentischer Übersicht".

"Vurdering: BBC music orchestral choice" - "Petrenko draws our attention to how much of the Symphony is marked pianissimo. No one has rendered more hauntingly the hushed writing for bass clarinet and flutes ... Fresh, beautifully phrased and vividly recorded - if with a touch of the cathedral about the acoustics - Petrenko's Symphony No. 7 clamours to be heard".