Shostakovich - Symphonies 1 & 3, 2 Scherzos
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Label: Chandos
Cat No: CHAN20398
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Release Date: 15th August 2025
Contents
Works
Scherzo for orchestra in E flat major, op.7Scherzo for orchestra in F sharp minor, op.1
Symphony no.1 in F minor, op.10
Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.20 'The First of May'
Artists
Halle ChoirBBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor
John StorgardsWorks
Scherzo for orchestra in E flat major, op.7Scherzo for orchestra in F sharp minor, op.1
Symphony no.1 in F minor, op.10
Symphony no.3 in E flat major, op.20 'The First of May'
Artists
Halle ChoirBBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor
John StorgardsAbout
For this, the fifth instalment of his Shostakovich symphony cycle, John Storgårds turns to some of the earliest of the composer’s orchestral output, works which Shostakovich largely wrote during his student years. The orchestral scherzo was a favourite task set by composition tutors of the time: the relatively simple form still demands that the student produce contrasting material for the outer and central sections, and manage the transitions effectively. Unsurprisingly, the form looms large in the early works of Shostakovich, as well as Stravinsky, Bartók, and many others. The two examples recorded here show the young composer’s ability and style, although not yet perhaps a distinct compositional voice. They do both share links with the later First Symphony, however, which was composed as a graduation test in composition from the Petrograd Conservatoire. Shostakovich spent two years working on it, but the Symphony he eventually produced was an instant success, marking him out as a Boy Wonder among Soviet composers. Written four years later, the Third Symphony evidences not only the rapid development of Shostakovich as a composer, but the equally rapid change in the world he inhabited. He passed the newly required examination in Marxist ideology in December 1926, and managed to extend his registration as a postgraduate student at Leningrad Conservatoire until early 1930. He submitted the symphony with the explanation that it ‘expresses the festive spirit of peaceful construction’. At this early stage of the first of Stalin’s Five-Year Plans, he already demonstrated his realisation that political spin would be crucial to his creative survival.
‘John Storgårds gets a clear sense of direction and some wonderful playing from the BBC Philharmonic, finding a dignity in both main themes [Symphony no.12], encouraging maximum character from bassoon as the first-movement action kicks off, and a handsomeness in the brass ensembles of the Adagio’ – BBC Music (Symphonies 12 & 15, CHSA5334)
‘The Shostakovich cycle by the BBC Philharmonic under John Storgårds is proving to be remarkably consistent, both in terms of committed and exhilarating performances and the characteristically widespread Chandos surround sound... the readings by Storgårds have come to be regarded as definitive.’ – cdchoice.co.uk (Symphony no.13, CHSA5335)
‘John Storgårds gets a clear sense of direction and some wonderful playing from the BBC Philharmonic, finding a dignity in both main themes [Symphony no.12], encouraging maximum character from bassoon as the first-movement action kicks off, and a handsomeness in the brass ensembles of the Adagio’ – BBC Music (Symphonies 12 & 15, CHSA5334)
‘The Shostakovich cycle by the BBC Philharmonic under John Storgårds is proving to be remarkably consistent, both in terms of committed and exhilarating performances and the characteristically widespread Chandos surround sound... the readings by Storgårds have come to be regarded as definitive.’ – cdchoice.co.uk (Symphony no.13, CHSA5335)
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Scherzo, Op. 1
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2Scherzo, Op. 7
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3Symphony No. 1, Op. 10. I. Allegretto
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4Symphony No. 1, Op. 10. II. Allegro
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5Symphony No. 1, Op. 10. III. Lento -
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6Symphony No. 1, Op. 10. IV. Allegro molto
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7Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Allegretto -
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8Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Allegro -
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9Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Piu mosso -
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10Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Allegro -
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11Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Andante -
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12Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Allegro -
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13Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Andante -
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14Symphony No. 3, Op. 20. Moderato
Europadisc Review
Amid the various events to mark this year’s 50th anniversary of the death of Dmitri Shostakovich, the BBC Philharmonic, under the baton of chief conductor John Storgårds, return to their ongoing cycle of the symphonies, which launched with acclaimed accounts of the late symphonies (nos. 11–15). On their latest disc, they turn to the other end of the chronological spectrum, and enter into the more vibrant world of the early symphonies. Coupling the First and Third Symphonies, they come into direct competition with the same coupling from the acclaimed team of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko on Naxos. Storgårds, however, has an added bonus in the form of two early orchestral scherzos with which the teenage Shostakovich earned his spurs while still at the Petrograd Conservatoire.
The Scherzo in F sharp minor, op.1, was composed in 1919 at the tender age of thirteen, and the musical language is replete with traditional influences (Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Glazunov among them). However, the skill with which the young Shostakovich deploys the orchestral forces, as well as his imaginative approach to form (eliding the climax of the central trio with the return of the scherzo proper), already demonstrate a considerable talent. No wonder Shostakovich felt confident enough in the work to assign it his first opus number.
Dating from some five years later, the Scherzo in E flat major, op.7, is a very different kettle of fish. It was composed at the height of Shostakovich’s obsession with Stravinsky’s Petrushka, and similarly includes a prominent piano part. Hindemith is another influence, and after the relatively conventional introductory bars the piece turns into a lively succession of striking and often strongly contrasting ideas. Light-hearted solos for woodwind (bassoon and clarinet among them) are juxtaposed with cabaret-style high kicks, and although the formal architecture is more conventional than in op.1, the deliciously irreverent close hints at the ironic musical language that became such a key part of Shostakovich’s armoury.
The best-known work on the disc is the First Symphony, composed soon after the second Scherzo. Here one has the sense of a young composer hitting his stride, and it’s small wonder that, following its triumphant 1926 Leningrad premiere under Nicolai Malko, it was enthusiastically taken up by the likes of Bruno Walter, Stokowski, Robert Heger and Toscanini. Here again, but in more inimitable fashion, Shostakovich’s tongue-in-cheek humour (later to turn distinctly more sardonic) is on full display. Yet the way in which Storgårds slows down determinedly for the first movement’s main march theme signifies a performance that looks towards the trials and anxieties of the composer’s maturity, rather than back on his relatively carefree beginnings.
Nevertheless, the BBC Philharmonic’s players are constantly alert to the quick succession of mood changes, most notably in the Allegro second movement, while the solo oboe, cello and trumpet in particular make the deeply-felt slow movement a highpoint of the disc. Storgårds keeps the Lento tempo flowing to just the right degree, and the dynamic range is as impressive as you’d expect from the Chandos team. In keeping with the performance as a whole, the sense of shadow over the finale’s slow introduction is sustained throughout the movement, its expressive instrumental solos contrasting thrillingly with bitingly effective tutti sections.
Altogether less familiar is the Third Symphony ‘The First of May’ (1929), which predates the worst excesses of Stalinist artistic suppression, but is usually seen as a retreat from the modernism of the Second Symphony (which was nevertheless similarly capped with an idealistically conformist closing chorus). Shostakovich’s later attitude to both the Second and the Third was tepid, to say the least, but Storgårds and his players uncover many beauties in the somewhat episodic single-movement construction, with its hints of an overarching four-movement design and a choral finale. At the time of its composition, Shostakovich’s aim was to write a symphony without recourse to repetition, yet the concentration and commitment with which the BBC Philharmonic play this music – notably the perilously fragile textures of the central Andante and the recitative-like passages before the closing chorus – bring their own kind of cogency.
The brass may lack the sheer brashness of the Soviet orchestras of the past, and in the ode to ‘The First of May’ the Hallé Choir may be less full-throatedly incisive, but Storgårds’ thoughtful, considered interpretation is more likely to stand up to repeated listening, and the trumpet-capped peroration has a surprising nobility which bodes well for the continuation of this ambitious project. With Chandos’s excellent sonics, detailed booklet notes from Shostakovich expert David Fanning, and the added value of the two Scherzos, this is another deeply satisfying addition to the discography, most welcome in this anniversary year.
Reviews
The First Symphony is a well-known marvel of precocity but Storgårds’s interpretation is unusual, although in keeping with his approach on this album: instead of youthful energy, we have here a deeply felt premonition of things to come. ... Shostakovich’s Third Symphony usually comes last in popularity polls... While the piece is undoubtedly puzzling, there is still much to admire: we see, for example, how Shostakovich is learning to structure and pace himself over much longer stretches of symphonic time. Storgårds invites us to immerse ourselves in the experience and makes every note sound significant, as if the symphony skirts the great expanses we find in the Fourth Symphony (and in most of its successors). ... It is a feast for both the ears and the mind. Marina Frolova-WalkerGramophone September 2025
It’s the rendition of the much less frequently performed and recorded Third Symphony, composed four years after the First, in 1929, that’s the more convincing here. ... Storgårds skilfully negotiates its changes of gear and he pairs the symphonies with real curiosities – two pieces, both scherzos, that pre-date even the First Symphony. ... in Scherzo No 2, completed in 1924, Stravinsky has become part of the mix, and the First Symphony is just around the corner. Andrew ClementsThe Guardian 8 August 2025
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