Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony is one of his most enigmatic and exciting compositions, the tremendous profusion of ideas present indicative of a composer at the peak of his creativity.
The symphony was perhaps too enigmatic for the Soviet authorities. In 1936, shortly before it was due to receive its premiere, Shostakovich withdrew the work. The reasons for this are not clear, but may well be linked to the fact that Shostakovich's opera Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk District had recently been denounced in Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, for its 'formalism'. Soviet composers were supposed to compose works which would be more easily understood by the proletariat. Whatever the reason for its withdrawal, the symphony remained unperformed until 1961.
Scored for a large orchestra including six flutes, eight horns, two tubas, and a variety of percussion instruments, the Fourth Symphony needs a conductor who understands how to bring its unique sound world to life whilst forging its disparate elements into an eloquent whole. On the basis of this recording, Roman Kofman is not that conductor. The dramatic opening of the symphony here feels very deliberate, robbing the music of its driving energy. In fact, Kofman's tempi are only marginally slower than those adopted by other conductors, taking 65 minutes for the symphony overall, but his control of phrasing and rhythm is such that the music lacks impetus.
Despite the fine playing of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Shostakovich's fierce climaxes, strange waltzes and endlessly inventive use of instrumental sonorities only occasionally stir and move the listener as they should. One only needs to hear the recordings by Kondrashin with the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra or Barshai with the WDR Symphony Orchestra to understand how much more the music of Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony symphony has to say.
The recording is clear and well balanced. However, the hybrid CD/SACD is recorded at a relatively low level and requires a higher than usual volume for playback. This results in a faint hiss being audible in both CD and SACD formats. The hiss occasionally disappears, such as between 7'56 and 8'04 in the first movement, which suggests a possible technical problem at the time of recording. Many listeners probably won't notice, but audiophiles attracted by the SACD branding might be disappointed.
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