After releasing the highly successful sets of Shostakovich
symphonies (the award-winning cycle of Rudolf Barshai) and the
string quartets ( highly acclaimed performances of the Rubio
Quartet), this set presents the Jazz Suites, Ballet Suites and Film
Music. Shostakovich lived a live full of tension and controverses
in the Stalin era. As a "modernist" he was reprimanded
and threatened to be banned. As a sign of "good
behaviour" he wrote music for mass audiences, in a
"popular" style. But Shostakovich being Shostakovich, he
managed to suggest under the surface of the sometimes nearly vulgar
music his unique sense of bitter irony and revolt. The Jazz suites
enjoy a huge popularity. The "Second Waltz" from the
first Suite gained world reputation through the arrangement of
Andre Rieu. The film music for the Gadfly is famous fir its
Romance, which was used in a popular television series. Excellent,
idiomatic performances ( new recordings!) by the Ukrainian
Orchestra under Theodore Kuchar, who have a reputation to lose in
this repertoire, because of their vast discography for Naxos.
