The Fourteenth Symphony is undoubtedly the darkest partition born from the pen of Shostakovich. It was composed in 1969, six years before he disappears. Inspired by the poetry of Kückelbecker, Rilke García Lorca and Apollinaire, and dedicated to his friend Benjamin Britten, this unpredictable work is reminiscent of that War Requiem, or the Music for Strings, percussion and celesta of Béla Bartók. With this penultimate symphony, it is a finding of desolation and despair at sixty-two, the Shostakovich comrade stands against his time, particularly against the Bolshevik doctrine advocated by the leaders of his country, contradicting In its own way, the deceptively generous and heroic traits supposed to characterize the. Written for bass, soprano and chamber orchestra, this vocal symphony in eleven movements is certainly not the easiest for the listener, but it is one that best synthesizes the work of his author: his artistic testament somehow . Confusing, abrupt, painful and angry, she found in the interpretation of Teodor Currentzis a sound echo the extent of its involvement. So they rely on the sepulchral lyricism Petr Migunov or metaphysical acute Julia Korpacheva, texts deliver a message to bloodcurdling, MusicAeterna undertaking to send it to us to the depths of our bowels , the sound of Jean-Marc Laisne still making the most penetrating. Difficult, but not insurmountable, this splendid realization of the Alpha label to be counted among the most successful discographic testimonies of the work of Shostakovich.
