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Musical Discussions
Topic: Re: The "mystery" of Shostakovich

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Posted by Romy the Cat on 01-19-2006

The lucky Bostonians have a privilege to enjoy the WHRB Orgies. Who do not know that WHRB Orgies are continues FM broadcast of musical programs devoted to a single composer, player, singer, genre, or even a subject. This moth we have  Robert Schumann,  Dietrich Buxtehude, Karl Leister, Dmitri Shostakovich, Bruno Walter, Ignaz Franz Von Biber and Elgar Orgies when each and single peace they ever composed or performed is broadcasted in a marathon-style.

http://www.whrb.org/pg/JanFeb2006.pdf

I’m listening now the Shostakovich’s Orgie and I ask myself again an again: why I do not like him. I always have problem with Shostakovich. He has some wonderful music (a few Symphonies, some preludes, practically all quartets) and at the same time some… of the most vulgar music that I feel ever was composed in XX century.

I would not describe my relationship with Shostakovich as love/hate/ I would rather say that I hate him but at the same tome I admit that some of this “better peaces” are very good or even geniusesly good.

I wonder if Shostakovich was a dog or a Cat person….

Rgs,
Romy the caT
Posted by Ronnie on 01-30-2006
I ordered the Bartok piano concertos 1,2 & 3 with Bronfman / Salonen and loved it
Got their Rachmaninov piano concertos 2 & 3 recording today and loving it.
Now, what's left in Salonen / Bronfman recordings seems to be Shostakovich piano concertos 1 & 2.
Shostakovich never caught my attention, and I don't know if I've heard these concertos, but I guess I'm ready to order anyway. :-)

Just curious: what do you think of the Shostakovich piano concertos?


/Ronnie
Posted by Romy the Cat on 01-30-2006

 Ronnie wrote:
Just curious: what do you think of the Shostakovich piano concertos?

If you are interested about the Shostakovich concertos then you might try Bernstein playing it and conducting in at the same time, the Shostakovich played himself as well as his son Maxim played it (it was writhen specificly for him), Maxim conducted for the Shostakovich's grandson who played the PC1 only (if I am not mistaken,) Maria Grinberg did it, Alexeev did the PC2. Generally I’m not a big Shostakovich piano concertos fan and I think that I have even some of the other performances that I never ever tried to listen. The Shostakovich piano concertos juts never touched me and I always took them ns a sequence of fortepiano sounds. The PC1 is completely dead, the PC 2 was very slightly more alive but still there are way under the level that I would consider “interesting”. If Medtner was Rachmaninoff without talent then Shostakovich’s piano concertos were the Medtner without melody… I am sure that there are people out there who would degree with me but what I said was what I feel. But perhaps I am just not tuned to his concertos

Rgs,
Romy the Cat

Posted by Romy the Cat on 05-20-2015
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I think 20 years back I bought a good rendition of Shostakovich preludes by Tatiana Nikolayeva. I remember how it was and where I was. I was not a huge fun of the preludes but I was hypnotized by a stunning illustration on the CD box: the chasing scene from Pushkin’s Bronze Horseman by Alexander Benois...

http://www.rusartist.org/alexander-nikolayevich-benois-1870-1960/benois_pushkin/#.VVzB5_lVhBc
 
Over a few years I was listening the preludes sometime and I generally liked some of them.  A few days back I decided that Thomas has too much Bach and I decided to devitrify. I went to my shelf and pull this Shostakovich box. I was near vomiting when I was at second prelude and I physically was not able to listen this. What a monumental pile of crap those Shostakovich preludes are?!!!!!
 
The Cat
 
Posted by steverino on 06-16-2015
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I love Russian orchestral music but have never been a fan of Russian solo piano music. Even their chamber music I find meh with only a few exceptions.

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