Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
The Piano Concertos & Solo Works
Yuja Wang (piano)
Thomas Rolfs (trumpet – Op 35)
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons
rec. 2022 (concertos) & 2024 (solo items), Symphony Hall, Boston
Deutsche Grammophon 4866956 [50]
Over the last few years, I’ve reviewed all the releases in the complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies which Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony have made for DG; I’ve admired most of them. To coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the composer’s death, DG have released a series of further recordings conducted by Nelsons: a concert performance of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and couplings of the two violin concertos (with Baiba Skride), the cello concertos (Yo-Yo Ma) and the two piano concertos (Yuja Wang). So far, among these latest recordings only this disc of the piano concertos has come my way, though my colleague Dominic Hartley has reviewed the recordings of the cello concertos as a download.
I don’t know if these recordings were made live, as was the case with the symphonies. I think it’s worth making first a general point about the recorded sound. It’s very good, though some listeners may feel as I do that the sound is quite rich, with a lot of depth in the bass of both the piano and the orchestra. This sound quality suits the Second Concerto rather better than the First, I think.
The opening movement of the First Concerto is full of irregular rhythms which Wang and Nelsons articulate with vitality. Wang’s playing is cat-like in the virtuoso passages. In the more reflective episodes, I admire the silky refinement of the BSO’s strings. Equally admirable is the way that the tone of trumpeter Thomas Rolfs cuts through the textures like a knife; he’s excellent throughout the concerto. The Lento is taken quite spaciously; Wang and Nelsons take 8:32 over this movement, which is by no means out of line with some other versions that I’ve encountered, though I note that on the recording made a good few years ago by Dmitri Shostakovich jnr. with his father Maxim on the podium, the movement, though not despatched with undue haste, took 7:00 (Chandos CHAN 8357). In this Boston traversal, both the solo playing and the orchestral contribution are lovely but, as I listened, I wondered if everything was a bit too lovely? As an example, the passage for the strings (4:21 – 5:06) just before the muted trumpet interjects with the movement’s main theme, is very measured and hushed. In the finale we experience helter-skelter pianism from Wang, and her trumpeter partner makes pithy, bright-toned contributions. Wang’s delivery of the zany cadenza is especially quicksilver in nature. There’s a great deal to admire and enjoy in this performance of the First Concerto but I couldn’t escape the feeling that perhaps the progressive, gritty nature of Shostakovich’s music at this period in his career had been rather smoothed over.
The Wang/Nelsons style serves the Second Concerto well. The composer himself had been the soloist in the premiere of the First Concerto but the Second was written for his son, Maxim (b 1938), who was nineteen at the time that he gave the first performance. This is a much more straightforward composition than its predecessor in the genre; it was written, after all, for a young pianist. As such, it’s rather more of a crowd-pleaser. The puckish nature of the first movement is well conveyed by Wang and Nelsons. I enjoyed Wang’s teasing, smooth legato in the second subject. Elsewhere, there’s plenty of drive and power in her playing and the BSO back her to the hilt. The debt to Rachmaninov is very evident in the central Andante, which is exquisitely played. The performance of the finale, cast in 7/4 time to accentuate the merriment, is full of high jinks. This is a most enjoyable account of one of Shostakovich’s most entertaining scores.
Yuja Wang also offers a short selection of Shostakovich’s solo piano pieces. The choice seems slightly random to me. I wonder, for instance, why the F-sharp minor Prelude was offered without its accompanying fugue. Also, the D major Prelude from Op 34 is an appropriate choice in the sense that it’s roughly contemporaneous with the First Concerto but it seems a little odd to insert in into the midst of the Op 87 items. That said, Wang gives excellent, persuasive accounts of each piece; I enjoyed her playing.
I began by commenting on the recorded sound. Let me offer one further observation. I listened to the disc both through loudspeakers and also through Beyerdynamic headphones. On this occasion I preferred the results that I experienced through the speakers; the bass was more satisfactorily integrated, I felt. Maybe this is a recording that needs space around it?
I’m a bit thoughtful about the manner in which the First Concerto is delivered but overall this disc marks the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death in a fitting manner.
John Quinn
Contents
Piano Concerto No 1 in C minor, Op 35 (1933)
Piano Concerto No 2 in F major, Op 102 (1957)
Prelude in F-sharp Minor, Op 87/8a (1950/1)
Prelude in A Minor, Op 87/2a (1950/1)
Fugue in A Minor, Op 87/2b (1950/1)
Prelude in D Major, Op 34/5 (1933)
Prelude in D-flat Major, Op 87/5a (1950/1)
Fugue in D-flat Major, Op 87/5b (1950/1)
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