Mariinsky Orchestra/Gergiev
Shostakovich Symphony No 7 "Leningrad"
(Mariinsky)
There has been no shortage of outings for Shostakovich's blockbuster Leningrad Symphony. The St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra played it impressively in Edinburgh in the early autumn, and Andris Nelson's new recorded version with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was reviewed here just last month. Hard on its heels comes another, this one from Valery Gergiev and his fantastic Mariinsky Orchestra, recorded just six months ago in St Petersburg and turned around very quickly by production and distribution people. This one doesn't need any help to get out there. Gergiev is a cult figure and his band is one of the best in the world; their concentration of playing is gripping. One note of caution: be prepared to be shocked by aspects of Gergiev's interpretation, which is slow, over-refined, very long range, and rather short in the brutish and juggernaut departments. I miss the visceral qualities of the music, and Gergiev allows only two cataclysmic moments: in the first movement march and in the final coda.
Michael Tumelty
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article