Shostakovich Symphonies 4, 5 & 6 album review – BBC Music Magazine

“What’s especially stunning about Klaus Mäkelä’s journey with the Oslo Philharmonic, who adore him, is the foregrounding of the lyrical. Every time I hear the apparently ramshackle Fourth Symphony, I grasp its symphonic shape better, and how much more so when what you might call the vast first movement’s second subject group tries to sing its way through the sulphurous light left by the opening explosions, with the Oslo first bassoon, superlative throughout, leading the way. Singing, soulful strings remind us what’s left from all this in the compromised world of the Fifth Symphony – the adagio, which allowed Russians to grieve, especially – but the culmination has to be the searing tragedy of the Sixth’s … and the dynamic range, from shrieking piccolo to thunderous bass, is as impressive demonstration-wise as we’re likely to get.”

***** BBC Music Magazine, David Nice, September 2024