Support us on Patreon and get more content: / classicalvault --- Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No 15 in A major, Op 141 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Bernard Haitink Amsterdam, 2014
To think that every one of those musicians is a virtuoso, and that each has a life story of struggle, and disappointment and triumph, and tens of thousands of hours of practice. Most of them have talent that began to emerge when very young, that someone noticed, and nurtured. All those stories, all that effort, all that talent, brought together in one place, at one time, under the direction of that wonderful conductor, guided by the mind of an extraordinary composer. Beauty beyond belief, beyond hope.
Fortunately, at the end's end Haitink keeps his arms up, to forestall applause (Haitink never liked applause, always was embarrassed about it). However, the end of this symphony is about the music disappearing into nothingness, into he material rattling of the world, and ultimately about the composer dying (nr 15 was composed in a hospital). In 1975, on a tour with the LPO, Haitink met the composer in Moscow, after a performance of symphony nr 10. The composer had a few months to live yet. One can imagine Haitink remembering this as he is demanding silence for a few moments.
Shostakovich was in London for the western premiere of this work. I was at that concert and truly memorable to be there with him. He still had more music to come including his Sonata for Viola and Piano (op.147) - his very last work.
@@DynastieArtistique I certainly did. He was sitting in the royal box not fifty feet from my seat. He sat poker-faced throughout the performance. Some of my friends at the time suggested that I should try to meet him but he had been ill recently, so I desisted. Being there "with" him was enough.
I think maybe Shostakovich is telling us that the end of the glorious history of symphonic composition has come to an end, no room for bombast just reflection and as you say, into the beyond.
Agreed. Topped (for me), only by Shostakovich's own 8th Symphony. After musically depicting the immense horrors inflicted by both Hitler and Stalin, the 8th concludes with a switch from minor to major, and offers a subdued hope for the future.
My favourite composer's most mysterious symphony. It is otherworldly, borders the absurd and surreal, features an opening movement that is deceptively jolly, a scherzo that goes nowhere and an ending that jangles into nothingness. Death, reflection and introspection - one to make you think.
The first movement. Childlike, innocent. The second... macabre and desolate... much like how our childish innocence dies with one quick, bloody stroke. The third, more pleasant, but you can tell in the wind work that there is more negative emotion in the subtext. The fourth, a return to the moods of the second, but without soli. The passacaille in the movement shows us that this movement is far more technologically grand than the others. The coda ends quietly, as it should. It should be noted that it uses many techniques from the previous movements- quirky percussion of the third and amusing wind chirps from the first. The symphony can be seen as a metaphor for life itself. Saw a wonderful concert of it performed by the Atlanta Symphony. Shostakovich is profound.
This is my favourite rendition of the symphony-I've watched Haitink directing the Berlin Philharmonic, who are outstanding, as always, but with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, he captures the humour, the drama, and in that lovely allusion to Glinka, which recalls the 'memories' in the first movement of the 7th symphony, the ephemeral. Shostakovich has created a lovely metaphor for life. It begins with a sweet bell. It ends with a sweet bell. Sheer enchantment!
Very enigmatic symphony. I think it represent a sort of numbness that Shostakovich was experiencing in the last few years of his life. Intense drama and conflict has been replaced with an odd feeling of detachment and ambiguity. The last movement demonstrates this very well.
So many subtle details in this symphony. From the movement references in the end, to even the transition into the Allegretto section almost making a DSCH motif but baling out in the end on the last note.
Saw the West Coast premiere of this stunning work in the late 80’s: The Los Angeles Philharmonic guest-conducted by the great Kurt Sanderling. I never forgot it and recorded the performance when it replayed on KUSC a few days later; I still have the cassette tape! When some of those gorgeously dissonant high notes were hit by the wind instruments, composer David Raksin (who wrote the famous standard “Laura”, and the scores to many great Hollywood films), seated directly in front of me, would turn to his friend next to him and give him a raised eyebrow, as if to say, “How about THAT?” Haitink does a beautiful job here. The rehearsals must have been something, not an easy piece to play I would think, there is a lot going on. It looks like Haitink knows at the end that they nailed it; he appears supremely proud and touched by the effort the players gave him. And how about that percussion session bringing the whole thing home? Wow! Thank you for another masterful piece, Maestro Shostakovich.
Haitink always had a sort of "ownership" of this symphony and never gave a routine performance. But here with his home orchestra everything is a glowing perfection on a wonderful night in 2014.
Words fail. Extraordinary. The last movement head shaking. What a farewell, piercing intelligence and insight to the last . Meanwhile about 32 mins here I was sure I heard V Kalinnikov's 1890s 1st Symphony, a key melodic lyrical passage, wistful, arresting, revisited. And lately I found 1923 letter from DS to a friend wherein he salutes this composer. "I am glad you liked the First Symphony of Kalinnikov, It's a wonderfully refreshing and talented piece.." Well well.
sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I see an image of Bernard Haitink at 0:01 raising his baton to conduct the first measure of my own waking morning. He's that "fresh" with this symphony.
The string section introduced by the woodblock at 20:45 is a mesmerizing inverted climax, incredible. It anticipates the unique ending. Unbeliavable performance (percussion, solo violin and solo cello above all), my favourite version of my favourite Shostakovich symphony.
you can see his fellow percussionists eyeballing him with that eagle eye that top musicians give to their peers (that says "I'm always judging you but if I'm not frowning that means I'm loving your stuff!"
Ive listened to this symphony many times over the years. The end bit has always fascinated me. It's beautiful. The drone reminds me of bagpipes. Its a magical piece, fills me with awe.
I have a particular fondness for this piece that is difficult to describe. For me it's like a patchwork quilt of the composer's musical life. After such an output of symphonic complexity and subtlety, it's an intriguing and beguiling piece, difficult to get a hand on exactly what he is trying to express. However, I feel his ultimate motivations are there to be discovered if one looks, and feels, carefully. With all the seemingly random and flippant musical references it's easy to interpret it as a lesser piece, but for me it is intensely profound. It sounds, to my ears, like a master of the form writing without any boundaries from the heart at the end of his difficult, complex life, with all of his influences and memories coming to his pen as if in a stream of musical consciousness as he thinks back through his life. Musical memories of his youth pop in and out of his later, more mature and cynical outlook like roses on a tapestry of war, giving the air of a lighthearted outlook but belying a more melancholic, nostalgic and elegiac sentiment that bewitches upon deeper listening. This comes to the fore, for me, in the final bars, which I find bewitching. Those percussive taps and gentle motivic recurrences are, to me, the embodiment of the "toy shop" Shostakovich himself spoke of when referring to this piece: I always think of the image of a wind-up toy like a wooden soldier, slowly coming to the end of his short life, having wound out his limited days doing only that which was in his mechanistic ability to express, inhibited and controlled by his masters until his time slowly ran out. These bars, to me, express more profoundly Shostakovich's unique cultural, sociological, artistic and psychological states as much as any from the 8th Quartet or the 5th and 10th Symphonies. A man slowly winding down after a lifetime of dancing to the beat of his oppressors. An underrated masterpiece, to be sure, and a window into the inner, grotesque, ironic, cynical, emotional life of one of the 20th Century's Greatest composers that exists.
+Sonny Williamson I too love this work, but think it one of the most frightening pieces ever composed - the end terrifies me every time I hear it......
+Sonny Williamson Thank you for your very helpful, insightful comments. Without them, I probably wouldn't have listened past the first few minutes. That would have been unfortunate.
+Nicholas Price The end does not frighten me it sounds to me if someone's pullin the plug from Shostakovich's hart monitor(he was in the Hospital most of his live and probably composed this piece there). I also like how the"invasion"theme from Symphony nr 7 is slowly diminishing .Nice performance
This is the definitive performance of this work. The percussion at the conclusion is so cleanly executed, the entire performance is perfectly timed according to the tempos indicated in the score. Shostakovich would have loved this interpretation.
Total agreement. Haitink understood the 'in jokes' and split section ensemble concept of the composer way back in the Decca recordings. In late life he has delivered the perfect rendition of accumulated mastery and with his home orchestra as well. Definitive indeed.
Is there any other work more droll yet more sinister, far darker and deeper than one originally took it for? This is increasingly becoming one of my favorites, engaging at every moment, revealing more at every listen.
Years ago I saw Bernard Haitink conduct Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony from a close orchestra seat to the right. I remember how he signaled the bird calls, with the slight movement of his hand in the shape of a bird. I am grateful to have seen this great conductor in his later years.
The sound on this is hypnotic. This 15 is like the composers holy grail. He is shaking the world to its core from the atmosphere down with this orchestral jazz? I don't know how to put it. I get a life giving charge from this piece. Full of quiet, and mystery between onslaughts of wild charges. Haitink can feel the power. It comes across in this recording.
Haitink's affirming nod there at the end after the lingering silence was all i needed to believe he was quite satisfied with his orchestra's job. (Plus the awesome job of the appreciative audience to not spoil the moment with uncontrolled exuberance)
Can someone here who "knows" music explain to me the vast difference between the 1st and 2nd??? This is my favorite symphony ever- a truly emotional experience- but I almost always skip the 1st...it seemingly has nothing at all to do w/ the rest of this absolute masterpiece...
@@DJAnthrocide I smiled to myself when I saw your question. I also ask such questions and almost never get a response. Who knows whether we're considered too ignorant to deserve an answer or whether there simply is no answer? Probably the former! All good things.
The work has four movements (the middle two being played without interruption): Allegretto 00:00 Adagio - Largo - Adagio - Largo 08:17 Allegretto 25:18 Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto 29:42
38:39 gives me chills every time. Such pain and anger. This is a man who'd lived through the Siege of Leningrad by the Nazis, who had his family's well-being threatened by the KGB for writing music that was "too loud" for Stalin and again later for hanging out with a crowd that was "too European" in values, who was dying of polio the very moment he wrote these verses. This was a man who was no stranger to suffering. Chills!
Quelle merveilleuse prise de vue. Quelle magnifique version, merci monsieur Haitink. Et surtout quel génie, ce Shostakovich! Qu'y avait-il dans sa tête pour créer une telle œuvre ?
I was introduced to this in 1985 on the set of the film "Blue Velvet" written and directed by David Lynch, who had broadcast it in the studio and on the streets of NY during filming, to set the mood. I hadn't paid enough attention to note the composer and having no interest in the film it became trivial. Happy to have found this well recorded performance!
I have never been so aware of an orchestra caring so deeply about a performance as this ensemble so clearly does. Intense focus is evident in the face of every orchestra member. Haitink needing only minimal gesture to shape and guide. Spellbinding.
Imagine how difficult it must have been for him to carve out his own musical identity at a time when the Soviet state was imposing a Draconian cookie-cutter approach to what they thought artists were permitted to do
The absurdity of life, fear, resignation, inevitability. Too tired to protest any more. Enormous power not giving in, but moving on. Letting it happen. Genius always.
The most mysterious symphony by one of my favorite composers. I found it so enigmatic, and that quotation from Rossini's William Tell makes it still more strange.
Like the first light of dawn, this music opens your eyes to new promises and to all the wonders of nature. Evocative of powers beyond observation, this symphony pull the strings of the heart, attract nostalgia and awaken the loves, the skinned lives and torpor of the sleeping watchmen !
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it but the opening is very similar to the opening of the first cello concerto. The first classical record I ever bought, back in 1973, was a recording of this symphony by the Philadelphia Orchestra. I have loved it ever since, and until I heard this, it was my favourite version. Now this is my favourite. The tension created in the second and fourth movements is visceral. Wonderful.
The comments here are very perceptive, and show that there are modern pieces that can arouse deep emotions. For those unfamiliar with Wagner's Ring, the solemn three-note motive at the beginning of the last movement (and subsequently repeated) is the "fate" motive first heard in Die Walkure.
I love the menace at the end - they are coming for Shostakovich - rapping on the windows, pressing all the doorbells, slowly allowing the tension to build up....Shostakovich draws on his last cigarette (the rushed little melody) and his heart booms.
Interesting you hear menace at the end- for me it has always been the opposite- a letting go, a state of acceptance after a lifetime of struggle- no more pain. Whichever way one responds, there is no question it is one of the most moving and utterly unique farewells in all music.
Brezhniev was the leader at the time, he had already reversed Kruschev's 'Thaw' and had returned to a Staliinist type dictatorship. Along with Andropov as KGB chief, he was paranoid by Anti-Soviet activities of creative Intellectuals. By then Shostakovich was a mental wreck and looked twenty years older than he was. A lot of his music describes his considerations of suicide. But if you are a Russian apologist, then all this is nonsense.
It's a quote from his fourth symphony which was written in the mid thirties. He withdrew it before the first performance and it wasn't heard until 1961. It was said those rhythms simulated a form of communication used by prisoners taping on radiators.
Magnificent performance, with every tempo just perfect- too many conductors rush through it, especially the final pages. I can never decide if this or Nos. 4, 5, or 10 is the composer's greatest.
Maestro Haitink's expression clearly shows that he thinks this is a serious piece of music, and I must bow to his judgment. It is somewhat less lugubrious than many of Shostakovich's other symphonies, for which I am grateful.
@@mason11198 Shostakovich suggested to his son, Maxim, that his Suite on Verses of "Michelangelo Buanorroti" (orchestral version, op.145a) should be considered his 16th Symphony. Maxim disclosed this to Yevgeni Nesterenko.
Perhaps someone knows but the scoring in the final fourth movement near 45:00 in this video has a very similar suspended chord progression and Celesta as Holst has in Neptune from The Planets. Has that ever been referenced?
Haha, yes he did. It is possible, just not often done. I play flute & piccolo & have played up to high C# in Shosty #5, 2nd mvt on picc the last time I played it. I'm about to play this symphony next week... I dunno if I'll try high D. I may if it comes out on my picc 😁
Yes, a breathtaking overture and performance. The " konzertgebouw orkest" always have been a master in performing. Go to Gustav Mahler under direccion of Haiting over the many years.You´ll love his leadership there too.
Прекрасное видео.Уникальная музыка Шостаковича - многоплановая, калейдоскопичная, интересная во всех отношениях. Прекрасно используются возможности всех инструментальных групп оркестра, что создает колоритное звучание. Очень нравятся исполнители - дирижер, музыканты оркестра. Спасибо!
![[TH] VCT Pacific - Regular Season - สัปดาห์ที่ 4 วันที่ 2 // T1 vs ZETA | TS vs TLN](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QKGUHmA6gwY/mqdefault.jpg)
What a symphony. What an orchestra. What a conductor. What a performance. Sublime.
To think that every one of those musicians is a virtuoso, and that each has a life story of struggle, and disappointment and triumph, and tens of thousands of hours of practice. Most of them have talent that began to emerge when very young, that someone noticed, and nurtured. All those stories, all that effort, all that talent, brought together in one place, at one time, under the direction of that wonderful conductor, guided by the mind of an extraordinary composer. Beauty beyond belief, beyond hope.
Fortunately, at the end's end Haitink keeps his arms up, to forestall applause (Haitink never liked applause, always was embarrassed about it). However, the end of this symphony is about the music disappearing into nothingness, into he material rattling of the world, and ultimately about the composer dying (nr 15 was composed in a hospital). In 1975, on a tour with the LPO, Haitink met the composer in Moscow, after a performance of symphony nr 10. The composer had a few months to live yet. One can imagine Haitink remembering this as he is demanding silence for a few moments.
I love how the whole piece reflects on possibly some of shosti's inspirations (ie: the tristan quote etc.)
Thank you.
Shostakovich was in London for the western premiere of this work. I was at that concert and truly memorable to be there with him. He still had more music to come including his Sonata for Viola and Piano (op.147) - his very last work.
@@howardmcclellan2022 Wait you saw him?
@@DynastieArtistique
I certainly did. He was sitting in the royal box not fifty feet from my seat. He sat poker-faced throughout the performance. Some of my friends at the time suggested that I should try to meet him but he had been ill recently, so I desisted. Being there "with" him was enough.
The magical closing pages of this symphony may serve as my farewell for the great conductor.
One of my favorite endings of any symphony of any era. Into the beyond. Magic.
I think maybe Shostakovich is telling us that the end of the glorious history of symphonic composition has come to an end, no room for bombast just reflection and as you say, into the beyond.
I could not agree with you more.
My favorite with Mahler 2nd... though they're totally opposites! I would also add the end of Gustav Holst Planets suite.
I agree. A wonderful and magical symphony.
Agreed. Topped (for me), only by Shostakovich's own 8th Symphony. After musically depicting the immense horrors inflicted by both Hitler and Stalin, the 8th concludes with a switch from minor to major, and offers a subdued hope for the future.
David Lynch brought me here... He said that he was listening to this often when he was writing Blue Velvet.
i searched for no. 15 to find the lettuce meme but instead i found this great symphony , thanks lettuce meme.
Shostakovich's burger king foot lettuce
The last thing you'd want in your orchestral symphony is Shostakovich's foot fungus. But as it turns out, that might be what you get.
*mission failed successfully*
Burger king foot lettuce?
I think if Shostakovich came back to life he'd probably be somewhat amused by memes after overcoming the initial apprehension
My favourite composer's most mysterious symphony. It is otherworldly, borders the absurd and surreal, features an opening movement that is deceptively jolly, a scherzo that goes nowhere and an ending that jangles into nothingness. Death, reflection and introspection - one to make you think.
Supperb !
My favourite Shostakovich symphony
I like the way he violently recontextualizes Rossini in the first movement.
Incredible Symphony. Schostakovich is one of the Greatest Composer in history of MUSIC.
That finale is incredible, I don’t know how I missed this symphony.
Outstanding performance by one of the best Shostakovitch conductors.
the only symphony large orchestra wich can really plays pianissimo! what a sound culture, in every register. Amazing interpretation
This is a marvellous, spirited performance. Haitink clearly understands DSCH.
The first movement. Childlike, innocent. The second... macabre and desolate... much like how our childish innocence dies with one quick, bloody stroke. The third, more pleasant, but you can tell in the wind work that there is more negative emotion in the subtext. The fourth, a return to the moods of the second, but without soli. The passacaille in the movement shows us that this movement is far more technologically grand than the others. The coda ends quietly, as it should. It should be noted that it uses many techniques from the previous movements- quirky percussion of the third and amusing wind chirps from the first.
The symphony can be seen as a metaphor for life itself. Saw a wonderful concert of it performed by the Atlanta Symphony. Shostakovich is profound.
One of the best orchestras in the world. This is superlative playing. The flautist is amazing. Haitink at his best. Brilliant.
Kersten is amazing
Best solo of this I’ve ever heard
Kersten is amazing
Best solo of this I’ve ever heard
This is my favourite rendition of the symphony-I've watched Haitink directing the Berlin Philharmonic, who are outstanding, as always, but with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, he captures the humour, the drama, and in that lovely allusion to Glinka, which recalls the 'memories' in the first movement of the 7th symphony, the ephemeral.
Shostakovich has created a lovely metaphor for life. It begins with a sweet bell. It ends with a sweet bell.
Sheer enchantment!
Very enigmatic symphony. I think it represent a sort of numbness that Shostakovich was experiencing in the last few years of his life. Intense drama and conflict has been replaced with an odd feeling of detachment and ambiguity. The last movement demonstrates this very well.
What a great Orchestra!!!!
Into the beyond beloved Dmitri Dmitriyevich….seeing your ghost & grimacing at the absurdity of it all. Eternal respect & love..
So many subtle details in this symphony. From the movement references in the end, to even the transition into the Allegretto section almost making a DSCH motif but baling out in the end on the last note.
I love the William Tell Overture sample. Shostakovich was a huge fan of that song, he put that iconic riff on many of his works.
Saw the West Coast premiere of this stunning work in the late 80’s: The Los Angeles Philharmonic guest-conducted by the great Kurt Sanderling. I never forgot it and recorded the performance when it replayed on KUSC a few days later; I still have the cassette tape! When some of those gorgeously dissonant high notes were hit by the wind instruments, composer David Raksin (who wrote the famous standard “Laura”, and the scores to many great Hollywood films), seated directly in front of me, would turn to his friend next to him and give him a raised eyebrow, as if to say, “How about THAT?”
Haitink does a beautiful job here. The rehearsals must have been something, not an easy piece to play I would think, there is a lot going on. It looks like Haitink knows at the end that they nailed it; he appears supremely proud and touched by the effort the players gave him. And how about that percussion session bringing the whole thing home? Wow! Thank you for another masterful piece, Maestro Shostakovich.
Haitink always had a sort of "ownership" of this symphony and never gave a routine performance. But here with his home orchestra everything is a glowing perfection on a wonderful night in 2014.
Haitink is supreme in this work - superb!
Words fail. Extraordinary. The last movement head shaking. What a farewell, piercing intelligence and insight to the last .
Meanwhile about 32 mins here I was sure I heard V Kalinnikov's 1890s 1st Symphony, a key melodic lyrical passage, wistful, arresting, revisited.
And lately I found 1923 letter from DS to a friend wherein he salutes this composer.
"I am glad you liked the First Symphony of Kalinnikov, It's a wonderfully refreshing and talented piece.."
Well well.
sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I see an image of Bernard Haitink at 0:01 raising his baton to conduct the first measure of my own waking morning.
He's that "fresh" with this symphony.
Superb, onovertroffen, uiterst transparant (lucide) spel. Hier toont het orkest zijn absolute klasse, chapeau!
The string section introduced by the woodblock at 20:45 is a mesmerizing inverted climax, incredible. It anticipates the unique ending. Unbeliavable performance (percussion, solo violin and solo cello above all), my favourite version of my favourite Shostakovich symphony.
I am very impressed with the tympanist, who plays with utter commitment.
you can see his fellow percussionists eyeballing him with that eagle eye that top musicians give to their peers (that says "I'm always judging you but if I'm not frowning that means I'm loving your stuff!"
the percussion as a whole is really what brought this piece together
15:13 AMAZING !!!
One of the BEST trombone solos EVER !
Great use of tuba too
Ive listened to this symphony many times over the years. The end bit has always fascinated me. It's beautiful. The drone reminds me of bagpipes. Its a magical piece, fills me with awe.
I have a particular fondness for this piece that is difficult to describe. For me it's like a patchwork quilt of the composer's musical life. After such an output of symphonic complexity and subtlety, it's an intriguing and beguiling piece, difficult to get a hand on exactly what he is trying to express. However, I feel his ultimate motivations are there to be discovered if one looks, and feels, carefully.
With all the seemingly random and flippant musical references it's easy to interpret it as a lesser piece, but for me it is intensely profound. It sounds, to my ears, like a master of the form writing without any boundaries from the heart at the end of his difficult, complex life, with all of his influences and memories coming to his pen as if in a stream of musical consciousness as he thinks back through his life. Musical memories of his youth pop in and out of his later, more mature and cynical outlook like roses on a tapestry of war, giving the air of a lighthearted outlook but belying a more melancholic, nostalgic and elegiac sentiment that bewitches upon deeper listening.
This comes to the fore, for me, in the final bars, which I find bewitching. Those percussive taps and gentle motivic recurrences are, to me, the embodiment of the "toy shop" Shostakovich himself spoke of when referring to this piece: I always think of the image of a wind-up toy like a wooden soldier, slowly coming to the end of his short life, having wound out his limited days doing only that which was in his mechanistic ability to express, inhibited and controlled by his masters until his time slowly ran out. These bars, to me, express more profoundly Shostakovich's unique cultural, sociological, artistic and psychological states as much as any from the 8th Quartet or the 5th and 10th Symphonies. A man slowly winding down after a lifetime of dancing to the beat of his oppressors.
An underrated masterpiece, to be sure, and a window into the inner, grotesque, ironic, cynical, emotional life of one of the 20th Century's Greatest composers that exists.
+Sonny Williamson I too love this work, but think it one of the most frightening pieces ever composed - the end terrifies me every time I hear it......
+Sonny Williamson Thank you for your very helpful, insightful comments. Without them, I probably wouldn't have listened past the first few minutes. That would have been unfortunate.
***** That's wonderful to hear, thank you. :-)
Sonny ; your analyze is so intelligent and true. (Greetings from Sweden ! :)
+Nicholas Price The end does not frighten me it sounds to me if someone's pullin the plug from Shostakovich's hart monitor(he was in the Hospital most of his live and probably composed this piece there).
I also like how the"invasion"theme from Symphony nr 7 is slowly diminishing .Nice performance
Extraordinary cello solo starting at 9:00. Props to the cellist. If I'm not wrong he is Gregor Horsch.
Bernard Haitink - a very, very, very talented conductor. With a wonderful feeling for this amazing music.
super cellist!
This is the definitive performance of this work. The percussion at the conclusion is so cleanly executed, the entire performance is perfectly timed according to the tempos indicated in the score. Shostakovich would have loved this interpretation.
I agree fully, for what it's worth.
A breathtaking performance. You are right.
burton48
Total agreement. Haitink understood the 'in jokes' and split section ensemble concept of the composer way back in the Decca recordings. In late life he has delivered the perfect rendition of accumulated mastery and with his home orchestra as well. Definitive indeed.
4:21 The atonality takes over until the trumpets put an end of the madness!
and wakes you up, in a military way!
Is there any other work more droll yet more sinister, far darker and deeper than one originally took it for? This is increasingly becoming one of my favorites, engaging at every moment, revealing more at every listen.
Great performans,thanks...I love so much Shostakovich s music...Brilliant Orchestra,andd Maestro Haitink
Years ago I saw Bernard Haitink conduct Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony from a close orchestra seat to the right. I remember how he signaled the bird calls, with the slight movement of his hand in the shape of a bird. I am grateful to have seen this great conductor in his later years.
One of the finest performances I have heard from Haitink, live or recorded. Perfectly captures the sound of that amazing hall.
This is one of the greatest symphonies! :)
+Rainer Salosensaari kyllä!
Yes. My own faves: Sibelius' 2nd, Beethoven's 6th and 7th. (not forgetting Dvorak's New World, Schubert's Unfinished, Vaughan Williams' 5th, Mozart's 40th, Mahler's 5th, Beethoven's 5th and 9th, Lutoslawski's 4th....)
Che musica magica!!!! Che mondo profondo che ci propone Shostakovich!!! Bellissimo, sensibile, misterioso, l'ansia dell'uomo moderno.
Clearly one of my favorite symphonies ever! Brilliant composition- every movement gives me chills. Plus, an outstanding performance.
Bravo Solo-Cello!
The sound on this is hypnotic. This 15 is like the composers holy grail.
He is shaking the world to its core from the atmosphere down with this
orchestral jazz? I don't know how to put it. I get a life giving charge from this
piece. Full of quiet, and mystery between onslaughts of wild charges.
Haitink can feel the power. It comes across in this recording.
I always thought the 15th and 2nd Piano Concerto deserved to be on a same record. They're two of my favorite classical works.
Haitink's affirming nod there at the end after the lingering silence was all i needed to believe he was quite satisfied with his orchestra's job. (Plus the awesome job of the appreciative audience to not spoil the moment with uncontrolled exuberance)
21:55 I will always remember this eerie vibraphone passage
This is the best performance of the 15th that I've ever seen and heard.
Shosti at his element. His compositional skills, orchestral magic at his fingertips, etc. is just incredible.
You know he hated being called Shosti, right? 🤨
Agree with others that the ending is pure magic. Another great Shostakovich symphony and it is very well played here.
Hello Zyklon Ben!
1st movement 0:02-8:11
2nd movement 8:18-25:18
3rd movement 25:18-29:32
4th movement 29:44-47:44
George S. I
You are one of the greatest human beings on the planet.
Can someone here who "knows" music explain to me the vast difference between the 1st and 2nd??? This is my favorite symphony ever- a truly emotional experience- but I almost always skip the 1st...it seemingly has nothing at all to do w/ the rest of this absolute masterpiece...
George S. Thank you. I’m writing a report and forgot where the movements ended when I was in attendance. You are an ICON.
@@DJAnthrocide I smiled to myself when I saw your question. I also ask such questions and almost never get a response. Who knows whether we're considered too ignorant to deserve an answer or whether there simply is no answer? Probably the former! All good things.
The work has four movements (the middle two being played without interruption):
Allegretto 00:00
Adagio - Largo - Adagio - Largo 08:17
Allegretto 25:18
Adagio - Allegretto - Adagio - Allegretto 29:42
38:39 gives me chills every time. Such pain and anger. This is a man who'd lived through the Siege of Leningrad by the Nazis, who had his family's well-being threatened by the KGB for writing music that was "too loud" for Stalin and again later for hanging out with a crowd that was "too European" in values, who was dying of polio the very moment he wrote these verses. This was a man who was no stranger to suffering. Chills!
Quelle merveilleuse prise de vue.
Quelle magnifique version, merci monsieur Haitink.
Et surtout quel génie, ce Shostakovich! Qu'y avait-il dans sa tête pour créer une telle œuvre ?
I was introduced to this in 1985 on the set of the film "Blue Velvet" written and directed by David Lynch, who had broadcast it in the studio and on the streets of NY during filming, to set the mood. I hadn't paid enough attention to note the composer and having no interest in the film it became trivial.
Happy to have found this well recorded performance!
This symphony speaks to the soul, and promotes spiritual upliftand awakening, and activates the soul
I have never been so aware of an orchestra caring so deeply about a performance as this ensemble so clearly does. Intense focus is evident in the face of every orchestra member. Haitink needing only minimal gesture to shape and guide. Spellbinding.
probably one of the most unusual endings in classical music.....what a statement this piece is....makes one think...
maar zijn laatste is niet de enige, die niet so knallend is: de 9de bij voorbeeld ook.
While it is unusual, it is just so hauntingly serene and beautiful. Probably one of my all time favorites!
It's meant to represent a toy shop shutting down. The percussion being the toys closing down.
@@georgekelk9575 Whatever it’s meant to be it’s incredible impression has more power than anything Mahler could achieve with his overblown bombast.
@@paullewis2413 Shostakovich would certainly disagree with you: he admired Mahler.
I read that Shostakovich did very little revising, and wrote with finality, with ink, on the scores. AMAZING beyond belief ❤
Quel merveilleux orchestre.
That cello in the second movement going higher than the violins....
Mi sinfonía preferida, irónica, grotesca, oscura y, a fin de cuentas, sublime.
shostakovich has such a unique sound
Imagine how difficult it must have been for him to carve out his own musical identity at a time when the Soviet state was imposing a Draconian cookie-cutter approach to what they thought artists were permitted to do
@@BrucknerMotet For sure. Have you read his Autobiography?
I love this symphony. And this performance is fantastic. Bravo to Maestro Haitink and Orchestra!
The absurdity of life, fear, resignation, inevitability. Too tired to protest any more. Enormous power not giving in, but moving on. Letting it happen. Genius always.
The most mysterious symphony by one of my favorite composers. I found it so enigmatic, and that quotation from Rossini's William Tell makes it still more strange.
Hey, DDS wrote a piece in honor of your execution!
Like the first light of dawn, this music opens your eyes to new promises and to all the wonders of nature. Evocative of powers beyond observation, this symphony pull the strings of the heart, attract nostalgia and awaken the loves, the skinned lives and torpor of the sleeping watchmen !
Love The tristan references
Charges on, the merest twitch of a toe choreographed... magical unwrapping before your ears. It's beauty itself,
Un chef d' oeuvre!
Gracias por compartir. Haitink es uno de mus directores preferidos.
Saludos desde México.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it but the opening is very similar to the opening of the first cello concerto. The first classical record I ever bought, back in 1973, was a recording of this symphony by the Philadelphia Orchestra. I have loved it ever since, and until I heard this, it was my favourite version. Now this is my favourite. The tension created in the second and fourth movements is visceral. Wonderful.
Yes! That's where I heard it!
Wonderful performance - perfect tempi in the end.
The comments here are very perceptive, and show that there are modern pieces that can arouse deep emotions. For those unfamiliar with Wagner's Ring, the solemn three-note motive at the beginning of the last movement (and subsequently repeated) is the "fate" motive first heard in Die Walkure.
I love the menace at the end - they are coming for Shostakovich - rapping on the windows, pressing all the doorbells, slowly allowing the tension to build up....Shostakovich draws on his last cigarette (the rushed little melody) and his heart booms.
Yes! Yours is a very good description.
Interesting you hear menace at the end- for me it has always been the opposite- a letting go, a state of acceptance after a lifetime of struggle- no more pain. Whichever way one responds, there is no question it is one of the most moving and utterly unique farewells in all music.
I'm pretty sure that "they" weren't "coming for Shostakovitch," not in 1971 when he wrote this - 20 years after Stalin's death.
Brezhniev was the leader at the time, he had already reversed Kruschev's 'Thaw' and had returned to a Staliinist type dictatorship. Along with Andropov as KGB chief, he was paranoid by Anti-Soviet activities of creative Intellectuals. By then Shostakovich was a mental wreck and looked twenty years older than he was. A lot of his music describes his considerations of suicide. But if you are a Russian apologist, then all this is nonsense.
It's a quote from his fourth symphony which was written in the mid thirties. He withdrew it before the first performance and it wasn't heard until 1961. It was said those rhythms simulated a form of communication used by prisoners taping on radiators.
Amazing musicality of both the orchestra and the conductor.
Magnificent performance, with every tempo just perfect- too many conductors rush through it, especially the final pages. I can never decide if this or Nos. 4, 5, or 10 is the composer's greatest.
Thanks for this upload. I'm not familiar with the 15th so this is a great way to get to know it - Haitink/RCO, what could be better?
Amazing music!
magnificent music and performance
Es difícil decidirse por lo mejor de Shostakovich, pero esta sinfonía parece recoger toda su trayectoria de creatividad.
superb interpretation. one of the best.
Thank you so much, very beautiful and so well counted.
Thank you!
with quotes from Rossini, Glinka, Mahler and Wagner...a masterful orchestration #Shostakovitch15th
not to mention mussgorgsky
(not a quote, but a harmonization)
And Prokofiev!
And from Walter Piston's 7th Symphony
Which is the Mahler quote? I could only find Rossini and Wagner. The Glinka is debatable I think. It's more Tristan than Glinka.
The best symphony at all.
Bis heute die beste live Aufführung dieser scheinbar humorhaften und latent sarkastischen Sinfonie mit perfekt artikulierten Töne aller Instrumente.
Meine Meinung auch.
@@davidfloren5339 Danke für Ihre nette Zustimmung.
Ich habe diese Aufnahme jetzt mindestens 20 Mal gehört.
Und es wird nie langweilig.
@@davidfloren5339 Nie langwielig, finde ich auch.
Ich denke an die Authentizität Mravinsky's kommt keiner ran, dennoch ist das Concertgebouw einfach eines der weltbesten Orchester..
Shostakovich is a god of music and Bernard Haitink is his prophet.
Amazing! :)
Maestro Haitink's expression clearly shows that he thinks this is a serious piece of music, and I must bow to his judgment. It is somewhat less lugubrious than many of Shostakovich's other symphonies, for which I am grateful.
David Lynch wanted originally to use with symphony for opening titles for "Blue velvet".
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shostakovich knew this would be his last symphony. It´s full of irony and wisdom and like some others here I really enjoy the ending.
He did try to write a 16th, but yes, he probably suspected
@@mason11198
Shostakovich suggested to his son, Maxim, that his Suite on Verses of "Michelangelo Buanorroti" (orchestral version, op.145a) should be considered his 16th Symphony. Maxim disclosed this to Yevgeni Nesterenko.
Eclipsed the 9th as the greatest piece of music of the Western World...just astonishing...
Perhaps someone knows but the scoring in the final fourth movement near 45:00 in this video has a very similar suspended chord progression and Celesta as Holst has in Neptune from The Planets. Has that ever been referenced?
Allegretto 00:01
Adagio-Largo-Adagio-Largo 08:18
Allegretto 25:18
Adagio-Allegretto-Adagio-Allegretto 29:44
The end of the last movement reminds me of his 4th Symphony.
And don't forget his 2nd cello concerto!
I thought that, too. I am spellbound by the finale of the 4th, and this one too.
Try some of his 24 preludes and fugues in Opus 87 for similar drawn-out, profound endings.
More like the 2nd movement of the 4th.
Did the piccolo player seriously play that high D up an octave at 39:13? I didn't know that was possible :O
Haha, yes he did. It is possible, just not often done. I play flute & piccolo & have played up to high C# in Shosty #5, 2nd mvt on picc the last time I played it. I'm about to play this symphony next week... I dunno if I'll try high D. I may if it comes out on my picc 😁
Well it is a piccolo
Vincent Cortvrint is indeed an outstanding piccolo player!
Yes, a breathtaking overture and performance. The " konzertgebouw orkest" always have been a master in performing. Go to Gustav Mahler under direccion of Haiting over the many years.You´ll love his leadership there too.
Прекрасное видео.Уникальная музыка Шостаковича - многоплановая, калейдоскопичная, интересная во всех отношениях. Прекрасно используются возможности всех инструментальных групп оркестра, что создает колоритное звучание. Очень нравятся исполнители - дирижер, музыканты оркестра. Спасибо!