Inaugural Symphony
All who attended the premiere of Dmitry Shostakovich's Symphony No.
10 on the evening of December 17, 1953, sensed that a new chapter in
the history of symphonic music was opening. Within the shortest time
all the world's leading conductors studied the score of his new symphony.
This month the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn inaugurates its complete
recording of Shostakovich's symphonies with this work.
Political Pressure
The political game of battue that would drive Shostakovich to the point
of despair began at the very latest with his Symphony No. 4. The printing
of a malicious critical article, "Chaos Instead of Music,"
in Pravda, was followed by public denunciation of his music as early
as 1936, and from that date forward those who knew and loved his works
formed a community of fate.
Vast World
In the summer of 1953, during a new period of political thaw, Shostakovich
began work on the melancholy first movement of the magnificent Symphony
No. 10, and three months later this epochal work seeming to contain
within it the whole vast world of the Russian soul was complete. If
the first movement flows by in mighty waves of dynamic intensification
and high emotion, then the second movement raises hurricane-force winds
- with Shostakovich creating the prototype of a "mad" scherzo.
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Personal Signature
The Allegretto third movement forms the lyrical center of the symphony,
and it is not without reason that at this intimate midpoint the high woodwinds
harbor the "monogram theme" D-Es-C-H ( = D- E flat -C-B) repre-senting
Shostakovich's personal signature. And then the fourth movement with its
gradually brightening sound coloration proceeds into an Allegro full of
the sounds of spring.
Welcome Guest
Roman Kofman's career got off to a dazzling start. As a violinist he very
soon advanced to the post of concertmaster of the Kiev Chamber Orchestra
and then also made his way right to the top as a conductor. He has led a
conducting class as a professor at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kiev
since 1978 and has been the conductor of the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn
since 2003. Kofman is also a welcome guest with all the world's major orchestras.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Missa solemnis op. 123
Soloists, Tchech Philharmonc Choir Brno,
Beethoven Orchester Bonn,
Cond.: Marc Soustrot
CD : MDG 337 1128-2
DVD : MDG 937 1128-5
Ludwig van Beethoven
Leonore (Version 1806)
Soloists, Kölner Rundfunkchor
Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Cond.: Marc Soustrot
MDG 337 0826-2 (2 CDs)
Debussy / Ravel: Orchestral Works
Beethoven Orchester Bonn
Cond.: Marc Soustrot
CD: MDG 337 1099-2
DVD: MDG 937 1099-5
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