Dmitri Shostakovich: Hamlet Suite, Op. 116A I Concerto for Trumpet, Piano, Orchestra, Op​.​35 I Quartett No. 8, Op​.​110 by Lith. Chamber Orch. / St. Petersburg Camerata Chamber Orch. / Dokshitser / Solodovnik / Sondeckis (CD)

This album comes In Memoriam of Saulius Sondeckis, who was one of the figureheads of the former Soviet Union chamber music scene. In commemoration of this great musician it gives a summary of his famous readings of Shostakovich’s chamber music, whereas at the same time it offers rarely played repertoire gems such as the film music to Hamlet and gives credit to another late outstanding soloist, the famous Bolshoi trumpet player Timofei Dokshitser. Last but not least it provides evidence on Sondecki’s capability as an arranger, transferring small ensemble music into the sonic language of a chamber orchestra. Hamlet. In the 19th century William Shakespeare attained honours in Russian literary circles as a generic dramatist, whose works were looked upon as a conceivable model for the country’s own theatrical evolution. So it was only a matter of time before Shostakovich as a versatile dramatic composer also felt attracted by the masterly English playwright. The first version of Hamlet was composed for Nikolai Akimov’s stage production in 1932. After the war they continued their collaboration, and released Hamlet in 1964 based on the original incidental music of 1932. Our album presents the eight movements Suite which Shostakovich’s friend Lev Atovmian arranged with the approval of the composer. This condensed version is very effective, painting vivid pictures of the protagonists and the scenes. The Concerto no. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Orchestra was called by Shostakovich himself a „mocking challenge to the conservative-serious character of the classical concert attitude.“ It is an overwhelming lot of ideas which are put together to a kind of kaleidoscope. One can identify a theme from Haydn, there is virtuoso piano playing with reminiscences of Liszt, Beethoven is present, Grieg seems to appear and even Hindemith leaves a trace by a foxtrot citation – in short: it is a bunch of musical flowers watered by irony. Shostakovich himself was convinced, that his String Quartet No. 8 was well adapted for an orchestral transcription. The first one for string orchestra was done by Rudolf Barshai, which is known as Chamber Symphony, Op. 110a the composer gave his blessings to. The version on this album however was arranged by Saulius Sondeckis for the St. Petersburg Camerata, adding timpani to the string section grounding the work with some sinster colours. The present release comes from the 24 bit /96 khz state-of-theart recordings out of the CuGate Classics archive. They are carefully remastered by the prestigious Grammy award-winning b-sharp studio Berlin using the original source material.

released December 1, 2019

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