Yakov Kreizberg's catalog with PentaTone tends to represent familiar classics, ranging from Mozart's violin concertos to Strauss' waltzes, so it's not surprising to find an account of Dmitry Shostakovich's widely acclaimed and highly accessible Symphony No. 5 in D minor included on this 2007 hybrid SACD. What's less expected is that the rest of the program is occupied by the comparatively unfamiliar Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, a far less popular work that has left many puzzled by its ambiguity. The Symphony No. 5 has ...
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Yakov Kreizberg's catalog with PentaTone tends to represent familiar classics, ranging from Mozart's violin concertos to Strauss' waltzes, so it's not surprising to find an account of Dmitry Shostakovich's widely acclaimed and highly accessible Symphony No. 5 in D minor included on this 2007 hybrid SACD. What's less expected is that the rest of the program is occupied by the comparatively unfamiliar Symphony No. 9 in E flat major, a far less popular work that has left many puzzled by its ambiguity. The Symphony No. 5 has been well-documented and performed more frequently than any of Shostakovich's other symphonies, so it presents few problems for the listener; Kreizberg's rendition satisfies all expectations for drama and pathos, as well as for the obligatory bombast in the Finale. But the ironically neo-Classical Symphony No. 9 was long eclipsed by its immediate predecessors, the wartime Symphony No. 7 in C major, "Leningrad," and the Symphony No. 8 in C minor, "Stalingrad," so it is seldom...
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