Sad to say, but this set of the complete symphonies of
Dmitry Shostakovich is a distinct disappointment -- a disappointment made all the deeper because the conductor is
Maxim Shostakovich, the composer's son. Although
Maxim clearly understands the music right down to his very bone marrow and although he undoubtedly directs the music with heartwarming devotion, his performances here are unfortunately all but terminally weak. They're weak in strength -- the massively monumental Seventh and Eighth are dismal -- weak in color -- the brilliantly scored First and Ninth are dull -- and weak in character -- the strikingly individualistic Fourth and Fifteenth are dreary. Because
Maxim has previously recorded many of these works with other orchestras, one would like to say that the responsibility for this is primarily the
Prague Symphony Orchestra's. But while it's true that the Czech ensemble sounds underequipped and under-rehearsed and comparisons with the earlier orchestras
Maxim has used -- the monumental U.S.S.R. Symphony and especially the virtuosic
London Symphony -- only make the Czech players sound worse, one fears that in fact the high quality of the earlier orchestras may have masked
Maxim's own weaknesses -- weaknesses the less than world-class
Prague Symphony reveals all too clearly. Too often under
Maxim's hands, the themes lack direction, the developments lack drive, the forms lack point, and the interpretations lack focus. Although anyone who loves
Shostakovich's symphonies will want to hear what his son has to say about his father's music, this should by no stretch of the imagination be the only recordings of the works one hears. Recorded between 1995 and 2006, Supraphon's digital sound is oddly distant and unusually indistinct.