The aesthetic character of this reading of the fifth Shostakovich symphony lies about halfway in-between the apollonian objectivity of Haitink's recording with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw at one end of the spectrum, and the dionysian emotional abandon of Bernstein's 1959 album (not the other, and inferior, 80s recording) with the New York Philharmonic at the other. Both of those other recordings are very good, and each approach reveals different things in this gorgeous score; I find that Neeme Järvi's performance here incorporates many of the virtues of both Haitink's more detached, matter-of-fact reading in some passages and Bernstein's passionate, over-the-top reading in others. It's a marvelous interpretation of a piece that easily has enough depth to convey different shades of meaning with each different approach to it. The ballet suite from The Bolt isn't the score that the Fifth is, but it's captivating and powerful, and since it's rarely heard it makes this disc the best album of the three I've considered here, if you're looking at the program as a whole and not just at the symphony. I can't imagine that anyone who's interested in orchestral music wouldn't really, really like this album. --D. Jack Elliot Listen to samples
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