Shostakovich has 15 symphonies, so where do you start? By many accounts, the 5th is the best place, and there are several excellent recordings available. Ormandy on RCA recorded the 5th with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the 1970's, and this is an overall favorite of mine. It was reissued on CD in Japan a few years ago [I even paid to have it shipped from Japan to replace my vinyl copy], but fortunately ArchivMusic has released it domestically. It comes with 'Prometheus' by Scriabin and is a warm and effective recording.
Ormandy Edition Vol 14 - Shostakovich: Symphony No 5; Scriabin
Bernstein famously recorded the
5th Symphony in 1959 in the presence of the composer, and is known for the exceptionally fast last movement that will make you stand up and take notice. It is coupled with the 9th Symphony as part of the Bernstein Century line and is also an
MP3 Album. Bernstein also recorded the
5th in 1979 in Tokyo live, and while the movements are taken at a slightly slower pace, the recording is better than the 1959 version, but overall is a secondary recommendation to the 1959 version.
For the same 5th and 9th coupling,
Haitink on Decca has a great recording of these works and is a good alternate to the Ormandy and Bernstein performances. Also on
MP3 Album.
If you are adventurous and are looking for a complete set of all the Shostakovich Symphonies, there are sets by Kondrashin and Haitink. I tend to favor the
Kondrashin set, although the sound quality is about what you would expect from Soviet-Era recordings, not great but serviceable.
Haitink's Set is culled from recordings in the 1970's and 1980's and is a good overall choice too, and also available on
MP3 Album. If you want to explore some other Shosh symphonies without the whole set, the individual recordings from the above sets are also on spearate CDs, and Gergiev with the Kirov has some great recordings too of
Symphonies 4-9.
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