This second disc from the young Kiev Virtuosi completes Rudolf Barshai’s now familiar arrangements of five of Dmitri Shostakovich’s fifteen String Quartets.

For many years, Barshai was the distinguished viola in the Borodin Quartet, and, as they were among the foremost exponents of Shostakovich’s quartets, he was frequently brought into contact with the composer. However, it was many years after the composer’s death that most of Barshai’s transcriptions took place, thereby never having the composer’s blessing.

That raises the question as to whether Shostakovich would have wanted the introduction of woodwind in the arrangement of the Third Quartet, that issue confused here by the sleeve note writer describing it as the ‘Symphony for Strings’, whereas Barshai gave it the correct title, ‘Chamber Symphony’. In its original guise it has become one of the most often played works, though this five-movement score, with its explosive third movement, originally fell foul of the communist diktat. Unlike Barshai’s arrangement of the Fourth, where he added woodwind and brass to beef-up the texture, here he uses woodwind in the most delicate moments, their distinctive colour bringing unusual textural colours, particularly in the movement’s withdrawn slow movement. His arrangement of the Tenth Quartet is less contentious, Barshai largely content on distributing the score to a much enlarged string quartet with passages given to solo instruments.

It was the one arrangement Barshai completed while Shostakovich was alive, and obviously received the composer’s blessing. When reviewing the earlier disc I commented that ‘the Kiev Soloists are something very special under their conductor, Dmitry Yablonsky, with the vigour, excitement and impact of a young ensemble’, and that is equally true of this second instalment. The exactitude of their playing is linked to a massive dynamic range that packs a power far greater than their size suggests. The engineer has gone in far too close to the clarinet in the Chamber Symphony, but that apart the recording is equally outstanding.

© 2017 David’s Review Corner

PIZZICATO, Remy Franck- Shostakovich NAXOS CD

Shostakovichs 3. Quartett mag eines seiner populärsten Quartette sein, aber es ist definitiv kein locker-leichtes, charmantes Stück. Und das betont Dmitry Yablonsky in dieser Transkription von Rudolf Barshai. Bereits die scharfen, herben Streicherklänge im ersten Satz, einem Allegretto, deuten das an. Sehr nachdenklich dirigiert er das Moderato con moto, so einen kräftigen Kontrast schaffend zur Parodie auf einen grotesk beschleunigten preußischen Parademarsch im 3. Satz. Das Adagio, eine Passacaglia voller Trauer, leitet über zum längsten Satz, einem Moderato, das nur scheinbar heiter ist: Yablonsky erreicht hier viel Tiefgründigkeit und macht das Unbehagen des Komponisten deutlich, insbesondere im sehr leise verklingenden Schluss.

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Diese Beklemmung findet sich im ersten Satz des 10. Quartetts wieder, das auch in der Barshai-Bearbeitung erklingt. Im Allegretto furioso nimmt sich Yablonsky viel Zeit, über fünf Minuten, um den Satz dramatisch zu steigern und von einem eher gemächlichen Anfang zu einem schrillen und aggressiven Schluss zu gelangen, der in das trauerverhangene und hier zutiefst ergreifend gespielte Adagio mündet.

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Auch in diesem Werk ist das Finale der längste Satz. Er beginnt unentschlossen und vermischt letztlich drei sehr unterschiedliche Themen mit dem Hauptthema des vorangegangen Adagio-Satzes, wodurch ein dramatischer Effekt entsteht, der die flüsternd absterbende Coda vorbereitet.

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Die Virtuosi aus Kiev spielen unter Yablonskys Leitung mit größter Hingabe, wohl nicht zuletzt, weil sie in ihrem Land die Beklommenheit und Angst kennen, die Shostakovich unter anderen Vorzeichen erlebt hatte.

© 2017 Pizzicato

"Look through back issues of Visions and the name Dmitry Yablonsky crops up more than once. So what is a Moscow-born, Juilliard-educated, world-renowned cellist and conductor doing in a journal about Azerbaijan?

Well, the CD review that follows this interview is part of the answer," .... 

CD Recording KARAYEV Ballet suites. Dmitry Yablonsky conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Dmitry Yablonsky conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with enthusiasm and skill on this Naxos CD, bringing the dance rhythms to the fore and taking full advantage of the coloristic elements of Karayev’s approach to orchestration"

Infodad.com

"The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitri Yablonsky is in cracking form in music that will appeal to all who like their music uncomplicatedly straightforward yet full blooded."

Steve Arloff

"This sound is just like taking a bath in warm milk... It is a luxury for the ears and represents for me one of the nicest and most satisfying listening experiences of the year...."

"Forget Previn ! Forget Zinman ! Forget Ashkenazy ! Yablonsky , the new authority to interpret this music ! 

He knows about the dangers of this composition, which has so often been debased to the kitsch that it is now regarded as such .

"...But Yablonsky shows what so everything is in Rachmaninoff's Second there : Proximity to Wagner in the first sentence , the incredibly savvy and consistent treatment of the main theme , the fantastic orchestration , even some " uncomfortable " point and - of course - melodies , melodies , melodies ... "

"Conclusion: " grandiose " would be an understatement for this new recording of Rachmaninov's Second ! This recording is nothing less than a revelation!..

This is the best performance of this piece that I 've ever heard - and I really did not expect this!

P E R F E C T !"  

"... It’s true that the bravura element (and there’s plenty here!) provides the main focus of listening interest, and Dmitry Yablonsky is fully up to the task, realizing dexterous and musically convincing accounts of both works..."

"... Particularly impressive is his playing of the complex finale of Concerto No. 1,

which requires great agility in the cello’s perilous higher registers." 

FANFARE MAGAZINE

"Yablonsky brings out all of the color, detail, and rhythmic life of this music"

NEW YORK TIMES

"His playing has enormous warmth and communicative flair..."
 

MUSICAL AMERICA

"Yablonsky ... presents a picture of phenomenal technical ease as he plays. The total physical effortlessness with the instrument contributed to a lyric serenety..."

STRUMENTI & MUSICA

"From the fullest and most expressive forte, indeed a cry of sorrow and passion, he goes to the most magical pianissimo with impressive stability and bow-control."