I think of myself as representative of the average classical music listener. I have taken a few music appreciation classes in college. I enjoy hearing live performances by the San Francisco Symphony. I’m familiar with the biggies – Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. But within the past few years, I have made an attempt to expand beyond my musical “comfort zones,” choosing programs featuring composers that I may know by name, but not necessarily by ear. On occasion, this has resulted in some less than satisfying results. But the majority of the time, my curiosity and adventurousness are rewarded: Last week’s all-Shostakovich program is one such example.
To be honest, my prior exposure to Russian composers did not extend far beyond Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. But several factors made me interested in this program in particular. First, I had been told on several occasions that Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony was a must-hear. Also, these performances were being taped for Keeping Score, a national program aimed at making classical music accessible to all people hosted by the symphony’s maestro Michael Tilson Thomas.
The three pieces performed were as varied and storied as the composer himself. The first consisted of three pieces that made up the suite from a ballet entitled The Golden Age. The next was an 11-song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry, featuring a soprano, a mezzo-soprano and a tenor. The last was the most famous of the three – Symphony No.5 in D minor, Opus 47. Each piece was stunning and lush in its own way. But knowing the historical context in which these pieces were written made them that much more exciting and fascinating because of the added meaning, nuance and character.
In order to get the most out of the performances, it helps to become familiar with the music on different levels. Sometimes that means listening to the music beforehand. However, the pieces are not always readily accessible. Often, reading the program notes about the history surrounding the pieces provides great insight. Doing so in this case was almost integral to really appreciate the music.
Shostakovich wrote the pieces during Stalin’s regime in the USSR. On several occasions, his work was censored and criticized as being against the state. Fearing reprisal, Shostakovich was forced to temper his condemnation, hiding it under a guise of mock admiration and faux nationalism. This is quite evident in music from The Golden Age, which tells the tale of a Soviet soccer team that travels to a Western city.
The thundering beats representing the power of the communist ideology nonetheless provided a rousing piece that was exciting and fun to listen to. Dance of the Black Man and two Soviet Footballers, which was heavy on the percussion instruments, timpani and triangle and included parts for tuba, bassoon and saxophone, was reminiscent of a march at a college football game rather than a ballet.
That Shostakovich even dared to write From Jewish Folk Poetry in 1930s Russia is a testament to his commitment to humanity in the face of an overtly anti-Semitic totalitarian dictatorship. Everyday pain and suffering is Jewish life in Russia was represented in works with names such as Lament for a Dead Infant and A Song of Poverty. The pieces provided snapshots of Jewish life through a Klezmer-influenced lens. Soprano Oksana Dyka and mezzo-soprano Elana Manistina sang with great power and emotion, providing even more depth and substance to the music. Tenor Vsevolod Grisnov, however could not match their vocal clout.
The 5th Symphony was an epic piece, soaring and jubilant, but often interspersed with stretches that seemed uncertain and stunted, particularly at the end of the first movement. The way Shostakovich juxtaposed these two motifs heightened the disparity. It can be interpreted as his attempt to please Stalin while stealthily injecting his veiled venom. Historical context aside, the 5th is also technically interesting because he splits the violins into three sections (typically there are two), and the violas and the cellos into two sections (rather than the usual single section for each). The result is a complex mélange that is expertly handled by the San Francisco Symphony.
The symphony allows not only for the enjoyment of the tried and true, but offers opportunities to sample lesser known composers. Some may scoff at the notion of Shostakovich being lesser known, but that is just proof of my musical naïveté. Fortunately, the symphony provides the opportunity to grow through these types of performances and programs like Keeping Score.
Originally published: www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Dec/6/shostakovich.html
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