Shostakovich: Hamlet, Op. 32 - Symphony No. 15 in A, Op. 141

Those of us of a certain age remember the huge splash the 1972 premiere of Shostakovich's 15th (and last) Symphony made, and those of us in the US were swept off our feet by Ormandy/Philadelphia's recording that came not long after. I was, at the time, struck by the puzzlement of various critics who didn't understand the seeming irrelevance of such things as Shostakovich's quotation of the William Tell Overture or of the Fate motif from Wagner's Ring. It all seemed perfectly clear to me and to those of us who not so long previously had come to terms with the sardonic side of Mahler and of his obvious acolyte, Shostakovich. This use of trivial motifs in otherwise serious works -- and yes, the 15th is a serious work in spite of Shostakovich's oft-quoted remark about it: 'I would like to write a cheerful symphony' -- is a hallmark of the composer's style. And we must remember that Shostakovich was dead within a year; he knew this might be his last work, he was still strongly affected by the difficult course of his life -- he also said, 'There were no specially happy moments in my life ...' -- and of his country. For me, the seeming lightheartedness in parts of the symphony is rather like the gaping rictus of a death's head, not for long mistaken as humorous, but rather as an indication of horror.

And that impression is heightened by the really great recordings of this work, those by Kondrashin Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 in A major Op. 141; Chaykovsky: Variations for Orchestra and Lopez Cobos Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 15, and slightly less so those by Haitink Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 15 / From Jewish Folk Poetry - Bernard Haitink or Sanderling Shostakovich: Symphony No.15, Rayok. The present recording, while well-played, is rather, erm, bland. All the notes are in place but where is the bite, the bitterness? For this reason I cannot endorse this recording except for those who are collecting the Pletnev Shostakovich series or who have a particular desire to hear the Russian National Symphony in this work.

As for the incidental music for 'Hamlet', dating from 1931, the impression is altogether better. The music was written for an adaptation of the play (a rather wild one, with added plot and dialog) by Nikolai Akimov. This is not the usual suite from the 'Hamlet' music. Rather Pletnev has dropped several sections from the Suite (Funeral March, Pantomime of the Actors, Feast, Ophelia's Song, Tournament) and inserted others (Dinner Music, Monologue of Claudius, Signals of Fortinbras) and added something not even from the 'Hamlet' music: a Gigue written in 1954 for an entirely different play. As a suite, this collection of pieces makes a wonderful whole. And here there is little evidence of Shostakovich's sardonic humor. Well-played, well-conceived, well-recorded. But probably not enough to make purchase of this CD necessary unless you particularly want to have Pletnev's idiosyncratic Hamlet suite.

Scott Morrison

The performances of both Shostakovich's Symphony No.15 and Hamlet are really first rate. Mikhail Pletnev's conducting is at the very top level and the Russian National Orchestra could not be finer. The actual music is splendid and with both pieces you never quite know what is to come next, especially in the No.15 where Shostakovich adds in some references to other musicians' work, perhaps in a weird way, such as adding in part of the William Tell overture, but it works so well. The cello section is lovely. The movements chosen from the Hamlet Incidental Music are magic. The whole disc is certainly worth listening to and would take a lot to be bettered. Anyone who likes Shostakovich would be well advised to buy this.

A fine performance well recorded. Prefer Haitink though. If you have multi channel that may well be a good enough reason for choosing this and you could be right.