Mstislav Rostropovich - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 (2018) [SACD]

When Mstislav Rostropovich conducts Shostakovich's music, the results are never less than sensational. The two were close friends and Rostropovich has a unique understanding of the composer's works. The Eleventh Symphony takes a cinematic approach to recounting events surrounding the 1905 Russian revolution. But the intensity of Rostropovich's interpretation and his personal insight point towards Shostakovich's real intentions.

From the first dark pianissimos to the shattering climactic finale, this is a reading of rare involvement and commitment. At over 72 minutes, it's about 12 minutes longer than most versions of the work, but Rostropovich maintains a note-to-note tension that never lets up, preventing any sense of slackened pace. Subtitled "The Year 1905," the symphony depicts the slaughter of demonstrators by the czarist forces, an event that contributed to the revolution that later swept Russia. For all its powerful, bombastic passages, the overwhelming impression, in Rostropovich's interpretation, is of a work permeated with brooding menace, summoning both what happened and the horrors to come. The LSO is outstanding, conjuring the typically resonant sound of a Russian orchestra, and playing with an electric tension that must have been overwhelming in the concert hall. That emotional power comes through forcefully on disc, though the engineers barely manage to contain the huge dynamic range that can make quiet moments border on the inaudible and loud ones shake the roof. A stunning accomplishment. -- Dan Davis