Under Stalin's shadow

"Presto recording of the week: Though [Järvi's] clearly the musical as well as organisational driving-force behind the enterprise the prevailing atmosphere is of chamber-music on a grand scale rather than simply a calling-card from a slick new super-orchestra ... The first appearance of the timpani launches the ferocious Allegro molto like a starting-pistol, and the strings respond in kind with playing that's raw and percussive".

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"Recording of the week: Andris Nelsons's ongoing Boston cycle of Shostakovich symphonies has maintained such high standards that it might seem somewhat predictable that every single volume so far ends up being featured as our Presto Recording of the Week. And yet it's never a foregone conclusion: within about two minutes of listening to any new instalment that comes along, it becomes perfectly clear that yes, we're going to need to write about this one too! ... Nelsons once again demonstrates why this series has been so consistently successful ... It almost goes without saying that the playing from the Boston Symphony Orchestra is of the highest quality ... Wonderful!".

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"Recording of the month: This is the fourth instalment of what I hope is to be a complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies from Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra ... I was pretty sure that this newcomer would supersede its predecessor and once I began comparative listening, I was sure ... This is another significant addition to what is fast becoming a notable Shostakovich series ... The present set is superbly played and very well conducted. The performances have been captured in terrific sound".

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"The orchestra plays magnificently on both symphonies, and Naxos's sound is on a par with that on the previous instalments. All in all, a distinguished addition to a superlative series".

"Curiously, the introduction to No 12 suffers from the same over-ponderous approach. And it's such a shame, because the rest goes rather well, all the way from the coiled nerviness of "Revolutionary Petrograd" to the radiant "Dawn of Humanity"".

"This must be one of the finer Sixths of the digital era ... The finale whirls us to its end with articulate ferocity at a tempo almost faster than the players can manage ... Sadly Abram Stasevich's arrangement of the Eighth String Quartet proves more problematic. However compelling the performance, readers ... will have insurmountable problems with the incursions of timpani. The Symphony at least is terrific".

"Nelsons sällar sig inte till lägret som ser omedelbara kopplingar mellan verken och livet under Sovjetregimen. Om det är det som är orsaken till att hans tolkningar av den sjunde och den lite mer okända sjätte symfonin inte riktigt brinner med samma febriga, maniska intensitet som dirigenter som exempelvis Kondrashin och Mravinskij har åstadkommit i den här musiken ska jag låta vara osagt, men Nelsons Sjostakovitj är helt enkelt lite mer städad och kontrollerad ... Men mycket finns att beundra i den här inspelningen, inte minst det makalösa orkesterspelet".

"Vurdering: Diapason d'or".

"There is always plenty to relish in Nelson's approach ... But I do wonder, the more I hear of this cycle, if the pristine quality that Nelsons and his Boston orchestra bring to these pieces is inclined to render them a little too well-scrubbed ... Much to applaud ... but things that might niggle, too, if you like your Shostakovich on the rare side".

"If the unusual coupling appeals, this disc is worth investigating".

"Strongly recommended, with the proviso that those who invested in Volume 3 of LPO's "75th Anniversary Box Set" will already have the earlier rendition".