Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4

This is a stunning recording and a stunning performance. I really wonder why it took BIS records many years to produce. The booklet says the recording was made in september 2005! There's nothing wrong with issuing a great 4th symphony and this is one. The competition is stiff but please mention that the greatest names who recorded this symphony are not essentially the best interpretators! First this isn't a spectacular interpretation on first hearing. The opening movement is long and in this recording very long. But it's over before you notice it and Wigglesworth has a very real and admirable ability to emphasize detail and rhythmic precision without sacrificing the necessary power. You'll hear melodies in the first fugue you won't be able to hear in any other performance (less Slatkin's I think). In the finale it's clear that the timpani is leading the rhythm, and it's not just the usually muddy timpani rumble in the depths of the orchestra. So this performance is slow - hear what Stokowski does - but not slowish like Haitink's. The SACD recording is very good, very natural and has terrific percussion. You need to put the volume higher than usual to get the right breadth. So see if your neighbours are away for an hour or so. Avoid the interpretation of Gergiev - no I'm not kidding - his reading with the Kirov orchestra on Philips lacks power, concentration and the whole thing sounds like Tchaikovsky. Compare Järvi's blistering account on Chandos. That one is far better! Haitink's reading on Decca - from the 1980s - is recorded in demonstration class sound. The problem of this interpretation is that it's polite. Something like `sorry for being here with this brassy and vulgar work, let's tone it a little bit down'. The strings don't attack the music - that's really necessary in this work - and there's no inner tension. There's no weight on the brass. Compare this with Previn's or Kondrashin's accounts; they'll tear your pants of; this music is very adequate when played hysterically. The best recording before the Wigglesworth one is Slatkin's reading for my taste: right away the first climax, with brazen brass, generates terrific energy, but RCA's vivid detailed recording has not the wide spectrum BIS offers. Also this recording needs to be played at high volume to get its full impact.