Classical Music: Shostakovich: Symphony No 13 'Babi Yar'

Shostakovich: Symphony No 13 'Babi Yar'

London Symphony Orchestra / Gianandrea Noseda
Vitalij Kowaljow (bass)
London Symphony Chorus, London Philharmonic Choir

LSO Live LSO0392
https://lsolive.lso.co.uk/products/lso0392-shostakovich


Fifty years after Shostakovich's death in August 1975, LSO Live completes its commemorative cycle with this commanding account of the Thirteenth Symphony, available as part of a ten-disc SACD box set or as digital downloads. Recorded in April 2023, it stands as a fitting tribute to one of the composer's most controversial and hauntingly original works.

Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda marshals an impressive array of forces – the LSO, combined choruses from the London Symphony and London Philharmonic, and bass soloist Vitalij Kowaljow – to devastating effect. Starting with the eerie sound of tolling bells in 'Babi Yar', which remembers the 1941 killing of almost 34,000 Jews at the Kyiv ravine, and moving through moments of harsh irony to the quiet reflection on silent victims, this performance powerfully conveys the symphony's bold stand against institutional racism.

Kowaljow proves a superb soloist, and the massed tenors and basses create exactly the right atmospheric weight. The choral pianissimo passages are superbly judged, their practically whispered delivery in the penultimate 'Fears' movement proving genuinely unsettling. Here, the LSO excels, with bass drum, tam-tam, and tuba solos conjuring an atmosphere of profound unease.

The climaxes are electrifying, yet it's in the mesmeric, intense conclusion that the performance truly shines, illuminating the work's philosophical depths. Superbly recorded throughout, this is an impressive addition to what promises to be a landmark cycle.