On 4 May the Mariinsky recording label releases its latest – indeed the sixth – disc in the series Gergiev’s Shostakovich. The release includes the Ninth Symphony and the First Violin Concerto (with soloist Leonidas Kavakos) performed by the Mariinsky Orchestra under maestro Gergiev. These works were recorded at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre in June 2012.
The Ninth Symphony is one of Shostakovich’s most enigmatical works – the composer began the composition in January 1945 and he concluded it at the same time as the end of the Great Patriotic War. After the vast Seventh and Eighth Symphonies everyone was expecting an even more grandiose work – after all, he had initially conceived the Ninth as a hymn to the victory over Nazi Germany with soloists and a chorus to complement Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The result was unexpected: the symphony turned out to be chamber-like and very laconic. The disappointment in official circles meant that the work was prohibited right up until 1955. The First Violin Concerto, composed in 1948, is, in essence, a symphony with a violin solo. Shostakovich dedicated the work to violinist David Oistrakh, with whom he had shared a friendship and creative collaboration for many years, and it was Oistrakh who performed the Concerto’s official premiere.
Performances and recordings of all of Dmitry Shostakovich’s symphonies and instrumental concerti are one of maestro Gergiev’s foremost artistic projects. The symphony cycle Gergiev’s Shostakovich began in 2006 at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre and continued at concert venues in the USA, Great Britain, Austria and Germany. In the 2013−2014 season the full cycle of Shostakovich’s instrumental concerti and symphonies was also performed at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. “Gergiev and Shostakovich provide a rare today example of a profound connection between a composer and a conductor, a connection that gives the audience an unforgettable impression,” wrote the German press after the final part of the Gergiev’s Shostakovich project in Munich.
Pre-release orders can be made on the label’s official site in the disc formats Super Audio CD: bit.ly/1Ci42n4 (to be sent by post one week before the official release date) and in iTunes (geni.us/3oPB).
Moreover, to mark the release of the new disc of works by Shostakovich the Mariinsky label is offering a 20% discount on all previously released recordings in the series – discs featuring Symphonies Nos 1−8, 10, 11 and 15 as well as the First and Second Piano Concerti (soloist – Denis Matsuev).
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