Cheap Shostakovich: Viborg District/A Great Citizen/Passerby/Sofia Perovskaya (Music) (Dmitry Shostakovich, Walter Mnatsakanov) Price

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Customer Reviews of Shostakovich: Viborg District/A Great Citizen/Passerby/Sofia Perovskaya

Review by Fred Johnson on DSCH Journal
"Perhaps the best way to open my review of Sofia Perovskaya, the most sublime Shostakovich film score that I've heard, is to quote from Levon Hakopian's booklet notes for Russian Disc's première recording:

"Sofia Perovskaya, by Arnshtam, was released in 1968. It represents the story of the life and death of a conspicuous activist of the terrorist organisation Narodnaya Volya ("The People's Will"), responsible for the assassination of Czar Alexander II on March 1st, 1881. Perhaps this strong, even ruthless female character had attracted Shostakovich's attention because of her likeness to his favourite heroine Katerina Izmailova."

Although elements of Sofia Perovskaya's plot may recall Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, the music itself is different from anything else I've heard from Shostakovich's pen. The only exception is the very beginning of the score, where the March and Execution are reminiscent of Shostakovich's older film scores. Indeed, one could almost mistake the beginning of Sofia for the much earlier Passer-by, opus 33.

After the Execution comes a movement featuring a prominent timpani role and then a quote from Mahler's First Symphony on trumpet. Following this is a whole movement devoted to a timpani solo.

Next is what is probably the gem of the film score suite: a Valse. This resembles aspects of The Godfather soundtrack, although of course that would be years distant in the future. The Valse is scored for brass and cymbal, with an oom-pah-pah beat. The trumpets play a desperate tune that leaves the impression that the heroine is dancing the last waltz of her life. The woodwinds in the middle section of the Valse try to make the proceedings a little more cheery.

There is much intense string writing in this score that brings to mind composers such as Bartok and Britten, notably in the movement entitled The Village, where the strings are interwoven with a wordless women's chorus.

The only movement that conveys a happy mood times out at a mere 48 seconds. Conversely, the longest movement of the whole score, at 6:47, is very involved, and has the whole orchestra sounding serious and intense, with prominent roles for celesta and lower strings. Here Shostakovich juxtaposes a climax, silence, and chamber-like qualities. The very short Moderato that follows recruits the whole orchestra with a sprinkling of tubular bells.

Only in the finale does the old film-composing Shostakovich return, with music that is momentarily bombastic and banal. This, however, is soon silenced by the timpani, and the strings return with an anti-climactic ending.

I agree completely with Mr. Hakopian when he writes,

"Like Katerina Izmailova, Sofia Perovskaya is portrayed in music with extreme tenderness - which is rather atypical of Shostakovich who, in general, avoided in his music every sign of "sentimentalism." For connoisseurs of Shostakovich's art it is really great luck to have this remarkable specimen of his late style available on CD."

This is a desirable CD even without the fillers, which are also noteworthy. In addition to the first recording of Sofia Perovskaya, you get an excerpt from the Vyborg District, as well as world première recordings of music from The Man with the Gun, A Great Citizen, and the Passer-By.

Until I encountered this CD, The Gadfly and Hamlet were the Shostakovich film scores for which I had the greatest respect. I also found New Babylon to be very distinctive and Alone offered something to ponder. But Sofia Perovskaya has crossed a line in my estimation. This film score is the closest thing I've ever heard in Shostakovich to what I would call art in the purist sense. I can almost see a conductor programming Sofia Perovskaya instead of Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and not thinking twice about it.

Although I never "blanket-recommend" a label or conductor, on the strength of his film score entries I am prepared to make a rare exception for Mnatsakanov on Russian Disc. I can't wait to see a release from this team of The Gadfly or Hamlet."

Fred Johnson