Schostakowitsch: Symponie Nr. 15 in Bloomington, MN

The flow of
Bernard Haitink
's recordings has been hardly slowed by the man's death, and this is because he still has something to say. Here, in a 2015 recording with the
Bavarian Radio Symphony
, he takes on
Shostakovich
's final symphony, the
Symphony No. 15 in A minor, Op. 141
.
said he wanted to write a happy symphony, and at times, he managed to do it, but only by attaching the joyful material to a slow movement and a finale that are predominantly dark. The basic flow of
Haitink
's reading, as it usually is, stays with precision and doesn't insert the conductor much into the music. However, he is there at a deeper level; the second movement is unusually slow, and the contrast with the peppy first movement with its quote of
Rossini
becomes all the stronger. Nobody could've gotten a better sound out of the
than
, and the
BR Klassik
label's live sound is remarkably good. This will satisfy anyone on the hunt for fresh readings of
's remarkable final work. ~ James Manheim