Old World was destroyed. The new world included emprisonment of the nation and slavery of the workers. Party members became the new estate, that only refined the ways of exploitation. Shostakovich was a twenty year begginer thas have to write a hymn to the regime if he wanted to protect his career and maybe his life too. It didn't help, Stalin didn't like his music...
"В первое Первое мая, - On the very first May Day Брошен в былое блеск. - A torch was thrown into the past, Искру в огонь раздувая, - A spark, growing into a fire, Пламя покрыло леса. - And a flame enveloped the forest."
That picture with the "Welcome First of May!" sign and the cheerful girl and the apocalyptic war-ruins of a decimated city in the background is very disturbing.
Remorf Chucket Maybe the young lady is happy that the slaughter of her people is over, that the fascist Vermin sauerkraut eaters are finally put in their place.
I like the fact that Rozhdestvensky isn't afraid of being a little hysterical and apocalyptic in his performances of the Shostakovich 2nd and 3rd. Thanks for posting!
I disagree with your opinion Giorgi Revishvili. If this is a bad performance what would you consider good? And when playing a piece of music slowly the term used is Largo. I feel you didn't give the piece much of a chance considering that most of the song is actually played at a much faster tempo then at the beginning. Do you know how to play any instruments? I'm not a professional or anything but I know how to play the Bass clarinet, clarinet, flute, and viola. Understanding the time, energy, practice, and talent required to play an instrument compels me to say that this performance was magnificent. Dmitri Shostakovich was a grand composer and this piece brings forth the required proof. You have a wonderful taste in music Pastrychef1985, thank you for posting.
I won't claim it's great music, but it's interesting to hear. I'd rather hear this in concert for the novelty than the 5th, whose greatness I don't dispute but was spoiled for me by too many youth orchestra go-rounds back in the day.
6.30 in, reminiscens of Johann Helmich Roman's "Drottningholmsmusic" Shosta IS and remains the master of the music to come, the pathfinder, the light in the darkness of Stalin's Sovjet. More REAL music in a few bars than a whole hour of contemporary music. Love this piece!
Misleading choice of illustration for this symphony. The third was composed after Shostakovich was commissioned by the Department of Agitation and Propaganda of the State Publishers' Music Section, in 1927. It's propaganda music for the communist cause under the leadership of Josef Stalin. One could more accurately understand the sub-title "The First of May" as a celebration of the widespread working-class riots before the return of Lenin or, if you will, a celebration of the February Revolution of 1917.
Interesting to hear the violin solo in the Andante section; this is usually scored for tutti, isn't it? Anyhow, a lot more interesting than many "Western" interpretations!
"Masterpiece"? At least one of the more scholarly treatises for amateur musicologists , Robert Simpson's The Symphony, gives it very low marks, as mere Soviet propaganda claptrap. Schlock. MAYBE I have mixed it up with how he dismissed the 2d Symphony. But they're usually ridiculed in the same sentence. This book and author are is still well-regarded , as far as I know. I do , however, acknowledge that music writers' pets and prejudices have changed over the years. I remember Stereo Review and High Fidelity, the two leading mass market classical ( sounds like an oxymoron in this era where even government funding goes goo goo over "hip hop" , " Fado", and on and on , as " 'fine 'arts") magazines of their time, could be pretty snide about Rachmaninoff at times. And wasn't it the lofty "Martin Bookspan", who wrote in his review of a Moravec concerto recording ( Schumann, on Connisseur ?) about the accompanying "Czech Philharmonic", " while certainly not a world-class orchestra...". Huh ? So - Maybe in some musicological circles today, the First of May Symphony IS regarded as a substantial work !
