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Review by stvnharr October 23, 2005 (10 of 10 found this review helpful)
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This new release by Mark Wigglesworth of his slowly continuing Bis Shostakovich project is most welcome. After the disappointment of the Rostropovich release, this was a most pleasant listen. The tempos here are much the same as Rosty’s, the first movement Adagio even being a full 2 minutes longer, but the overall timing is only a minute longer. The 3rd movement scherzo here is done really well, and creates a lot of energy to burst in to the 4th movement Largo. Most of the rest here I found to be quite similar to the Rostropovich recording. However, where the pace of Rostropovich’s sometimes seems to lag a little, here it never seems to although the tempo is still on the slow side.
The biggest difference between the two recordings is in the sound quality. The Bis recording team came up with real first class sound here. The dynamic range here is just as great as on the Lso release. But the loud crescendos are never ever just plain loud and so in your face as they are on the Lso release. The mics seem to be a little farther back from the orchestra and the sound is just about perfect. The strings are never harsh or shrill. The cor anglais solo in the 1st movement could not have been done any better. The tympani and drums sound properly at the rear of the orchestra, rather than the more up front sound of the Lso release.
Another thing I particularly enjoyed here is that Mark Wigglesworth wrote the notes in the booklet. I wish this were more common. I much more enjoy reading the words and thoughts of the conductor rather than someone else. Although I realize that this is just a small thing to most.
All in all, I found this to be a very good recording.
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