Shostakovich - Symphony No 10 in E minor, Op 93 - Gergiev

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Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No 10 in E minor, Op 93

1 Moderato
2 Allegro
3 Allegretto
4 Andante - Allegro

National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America
Valery Gergiev, conductor

Live recording. London, Proms 2013

[IsaacW.]

How many people do you want in the orchestra?
Dimitri: Yes.

[chuckgviolin]

Man these kids are good. This symphony is horrifically difficult. The second movement is the most terrifying 4 minutes in any musician's life.

[pianos]

The thing I love about Shostakovich's music, which makes him unique in the world of classic music is that the listener needs to understand the context and background of his works and his life of fear and oppression under Stalin's dictatorship. If the listener truly understands this, they will be able to completely grasp the music in this symphony and listen at ease (as much as possible). I've always said that far much more skill is required to listen to a Shostakovich symphony than something like a Beethoven or Mozart symphony. The thing Shostakovich does is he creates a piece of music inspired by a specific event or theme, which in turn paints a picture of that in the listener's head. This particular symphony, the tenth, is my favourite Shostakovich symphony; it expresses the harsh, brutal life of the USSR under the rule of Stalin. It conveys the sense of fear, worry and terror that all Soviets lived through. However, this all had come to an end (yes, the USSR lived on until 1991, but the Stalinist era was over), and this feeling of freedom, hope and joy, to me, is expressed through the last part of the finale, despite constant reminders of those painful times glued into the people's memories forever.

[ayslee]

The Principal Bassoon player was absolutely AMAZING. Brilliantly rich and heart-melting tone colour. BRAVO!

[rubenseam]

[00:00] -- 1. Moderato
[21:37] -- 2. Allegro
[25:52] -- 3. Allegretto - Largo - Piú mosso
[37:45] -- 4. Andante - Allegro - L’istesso tempo

[bbfiddler]

Wow, this orchestra is seriously talented! The maturity of their sound and balance belies any preconceptions of the inferiority of a youth orchestra. Close your eyes and you'll swear it's the CSO playing this! But not for too long, or you'll miss out on the stunning scarlet pants :)

[klausteschner]

No professional orchestra could have played it better. Absolutely incredible. What a pitty not to get it on CD.

[JFF]

This is one of the most amazing pieces I have ever heard. These musicians are kids and play with absolute brilliance!!! Very lovely indeed!

[orvillewrightjr]

Maestro Gergiev elicits an astounding performance from these highly gifted children. It was very gratifying to listen to their artistry, from the string, woodwind and brass sections by turns; in what I believe is one of Shostakovich's most difficult symphonies to perform. Many thanks for this post.

[krn_ndy]

6:03
Enjoy that breath. It's the only one you are going to get for the rest of the piece.

[alessiorastani]

Evil and Power put to great music at 21:37 . Just amazing.

[emmatyndall]

The allegro section has been used in dci shows and my band director decided to have use play it for our show this year. We took it at 179 bpm and marching at the same time. It is a ridiculously hard piece but so well composed

[robertallen]

Shostakovich..a master at launching musical phrases from truly odd notes...a genius

[MrLewis-lkus]

Great Musicality especially for such young players. Excellent work. Love this piece.

[adrianwright]

Curious that Gergiev is conducting the National Youth Orchestra of the USA in the UK! All good for International relationships I guess.

[patrickedwards]

Assured and and compelling sound that finds and convincingly conveys the pathos and hope in every note of this profoundly human symphony.

[RFconductor]

This is an absolutely incredible performance! Bravo!

[paullewis]

I've listened to a lot of recordings of this work but keep coming back to this as it's so damned good! Gergiev is an unpredictable conductor but with Shostakovich and Prokofiev he is hard to beat. The quality of these young musicians is amazing!

[nikoladelerue]

Man, the timpani and the snare sound epic together

[andrewnguyen]

I like how even the timpani plays the D E-flat C B motif at the very end