shostakovitch violin concerto#1
"The concerto lasts around 35 minutes and has four movements, with a cadenza linking the final two:
1. Nocturne: Moderato - A semi-homage to the first movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto.
2. Scherzo: Allegro - Demonic dance.
3. Passacaglia: Andante - Cadenza (attaca) - Utilizes Beethoven's fate motif, incorporating it into the pre-burlesque cadenza.
4. Burlesque: Allegro con brio - Presto - The theme in the solo violin's entrance resembles that was the solo flute's entrance in Stravinsky's Petrouchka.
The work is scored for piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, cor anglais, three clarinets (3rd doubling bass clarinet), two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, tuba, timpani, tambourine, tam-tam, xylophone, celesta, two harps and strings.
Oistrakh characterised the first movement as "a suppression of feelings", and the second as "demoniac". The scherzo is also notable for an appearance by the DSCH motif representing the composer himself. Boris Schwarz (Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia, 1972), commented on the passacaglia's "lapidary grandeur" and the burlesque's "devil-may-care member stoking abandonment". The beginning of the passacaglia is also notable for its juxtaposition of the invasion or Stalin's theme from the Seventh Symphony and the fate motif from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
The concerto is sometimes numbered as Opus 99: the time-lag between composition and performance is the reason that it was originally issued as Opus 77 (Opus 77 was then allocated to Three Pieces for orchestra)."

The Fitzwilliam String Quartet celebrates a remarkable milestone with this special fiftieth anniversary recording of Shostakovichs last three string quartets. Fittingly, this landmark recording will look back to the music which first propelled the Fitzwilliam to international prominence. Shostakovich entrusted the Fitzwilliam with the western premieres of his last three quartets (Nos. 13, 14, 15), and before long they had become the first ever group to perform and record all fifteen, winning many international awards along the way. The highly innovative String Quartet No.13 is notable for its unique single-movement form and the virtuosic viola writing, which shines a spotlight on founding member Alan George. No.14, despite its twelve-tone structure, is perhaps the most accessible of Shostakovichs late quartets with a wealth of identifiable melodies. The six movements of No.15 are profoundly melancholic and intimate, with the composers obsession with death a clear influence. The Fitzwilliams pre-eminence in the interpretation of these works has persisted: Benjamin Britten reported after Shostakovichs death in 1975 that the composer had told him the Fitzwilliam were his preferred performers of my quartets.

第三弦乐四重奏创作于战后1946年，当时作曲家享有较高声望，还未经受48年日丹诺夫的批判，是其作品中情绪较为轻快的。这个阶段的作品很多与犹太音乐相关，48年他写出了《犹太民间诗歌》。第三四重奏中的舞曲具有犹太民间音乐的风格和音阶，无论是在怪异的圆舞曲、还是在哀伤的柔板中，犹太音乐元素始终萦绕不去。作品最后结束于暧昧而幽静的F大调，似乎言犹未尽。
五十年代，经历了日丹诺夫形式主义批判的作曲家，开始了一个探索时期。这个时期内，他写作的“官方作品”较多，如《森林之歌》、《阳光照耀祖国》，许多朋友和同事对此很不理解，作曲家自己也担心“才思枯竭”（drying up）。他逐步开始注重对弦乐四重奏的创作，进入了晚期带有孤寂、晦暗色彩的风格。
第七四重奏标志着作曲家进入晚期风格，妻子尼娜在54年去世后，第二次婚姻不太成功，第七四重奏充满着孤独感，题献给前妻。当年他在官方职位上升任俄罗斯作曲家联盟——这是新近成立的，与赫连尼科夫领导的苏联作曲家协会并列（不清楚是平级单位还是上下级）。第七四重奏写得十分精简，圆舞曲小快板尾声引用了《姆琴斯克县的麦克白夫人》中的爱情主题，那也是题献给尼娜的。
第八四重奏是作曲家最著名的弦乐四重奏作品，由于从头到底贯穿了作曲家的姓氏音名主题，被认为是他最具有自传性的音乐。虽然标题为“献给法西斯主义和战争的受难者”，但作曲家在写给好友格里克曼的信中，证实这是作曲家题献给自己的死后纪念音乐。他在60年六月底几乎精神崩溃，西方研究者认为是作曲家违心地被迫入党，造成作曲家精神极度紧张，他在很短时间内几乎把音乐倾泻纸面。齐泽克则认为这首曲子体现了集权主义体制下的人性典型，强制和受强制、虐待和自虐、自嘲和讽刺、冲动和无力等种种表征。（novich整理）

It was in Shostakovichs First Cello Concerto that cellist Alisa Weilerstein prompted the Los Angeles Times to marvel: Weilersteins cello is her id... She and the cello seem simply to be one and the same.
Alisa returns with Shostakovichs cello masterworks Concertos 1 & 2.
Composed for the virtuosic cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the coupling and contrasting of these two arresting works is irresistible: the anti-heroic, relentless, emotionally suppressed First Concerto set alongside the sarcasm and isolation of the Second.
Weilersteins interpretation is underpinned by her meeting Rostropovich a close friend of the composer when she was 22, playing Shostakovich for him and absorbing his advice and wisdom.
Her outstanding rapport with conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and the Symphonieorchester Bayerischen Rundfunks is evident in this new recording.

Recording:1956&1968

In 1950, Shostakovich went to Leipzig to attend the Bicentennial Bach competition. His admiration for Tatiana Nikolaeva s performance of the Well-Tempered Clavier served as an impetus to write his own set of Twenty-Four
Preludes and Fugues, loosely modeled on Bach s. Over the years, Nikolaeva, who performed the composition frequently throughout her career, became practically synonymous with the work. Alexander Melnikov started from scratch and came up with his own, unique and eminently musical interpretation. The third disc in the set is a DualDisc with a DVD side featuring a short film by Christian Leblé about the Preludes & Fugues that includes interviews with Alexander Melnikov and Andreas Staier.

肖斯塔科维奇1906年9月25日生于圣彼得堡，是苏联最重要的作曲家之一，也是当代世界著名的作曲家之一。他的创作遍及各种音乐体裁，特别是15部交响曲使他享有20世纪交响乐大师的盛誉。此外，他还培养了大批苏联当代著名作曲家，深受苏联人民的喜爱。1975年8月9日卒于莫斯科。
肖氏的交响曲无疑是20世纪的古典音乐中的最具震撼力篇章之一，以他惯有的颇具先锋性质的凌厉气势、强烈的情绪感召力，诙谐讽刺的音乐气质而独树一帜，他的音乐在复杂深刻中充满了人性和思想的拷问、压抑中充满了激情的挣扎冲突，让你很难不为之动容。荷兰籍指挥家贝纳德•海廷克 （Bernard Haitink，1929—）对俄国文化精神以及肖斯塔科维奇的诠释深刻而见解独到，几乎可以说是定义性质的。
指挥：贝纳德•海廷克（Bernard Haitink，1929— ）
录音年代：1977—1986年