Shostakovich: The Fall of Berlin, Op. 82; The Unforgettable Year 1919, Op. 89a

Shostakovich: The Fall of Berlin, Op. 82; The Unforgettable Year 1919, Op. 89a

Shostakovich: The Fall of Berlin, Op. 82; The Unforgettable Year 1919, Op. 89a
Our Price: $8.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $4.22 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

Music CD Cover

Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich
Conductor: Adriano
Orchestra: Moscow Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Ellena Alekseyeva
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-08-29
Music Label: Naxos Cinema Classic
Soundtracks:
  1. Main Title Part 1
  2. Beautiful day
  3. Alyosha by the river
  4. Stalin's Garden
  5. Aloysha and Natalia in the fields - Attack
  6. Hitler's reception
  7. In the devastated village
  8. Forward!
  9. Main Title Part 2
  10. The roll call - Attack at night
  11. Storming Seelov Heights (Zielona Gora)
  12. The flooding of the underground station
  13. The final battle for the Reichstag - Kostya's death
  14. Yussuf's death - The Red Banner
  15. Stalin at Berlin airport
  16. Finale: Stalin's speech - Alyosha and Natasha reunited
  17. Introduction
  18. Romance (Meeting of Shibayev with Katya)
  19. Scene from the Sea Battle
  20. Scherzo
  21. The Assault on the Red Hill
  22. Intermezzo
  23. Finale

Free Music Notes for Shostakovich: The Fall of Berlin, Op. 82; The Unforgettable Year 1919, Op. 89a

Free Music Review: Representative selections of Shostakovich film music
Hit: 4 Stars

Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) played and composed film music, or music to accompany cinema, from his earliest days as a teen pianist accompanying silent movies. He composed the two scores on this CD -- "The Fall of Berlin" and "The Unforgettable Year 1919" -- in the postwar period after his denunciation, with Prokofiev and others, as a formalist. Film music was a way for Shostakovich to make a payday and to get back to better graces with the official music establishment that demanded "Socialist realism" portrayed in its music.

Both scores accompany movies depicting patriotic portraits of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. "The Fall of Berlin" represents the Soviet victory over Germany in World War II and "The Unforgettable Year 1919" addresses the civil war in Petrograd in the years following the 1917 revolution. The films date from 1949 and 1951, respectively.

Even though they released this CD in 2000, Naxos labels the recordings the "premiere recording" of "Fall of Berlin" and the "first complete recording" of "The Unforgettable Year 1919". Both were edited by conductor-composer Adriano, a Swizter that goes by one name. He specializes in off the beaten track repertory and has the temperament to be effective in film music. I've heard previous recordings of his and none were as good as this one.

I'd say Adriano's edited version of "The Fall of Berlin" is the more effective of the two on this disk. It is full of major key flag-waving emotions, high minor key drama, and the excitement of battle and victory. Shostakovich's score eschews the glitter of American film music while still retaining the dynamic sweep necessary to create emotions and reflect the visual foundation.

The score has a notable main title and includes thematic material that will remind you of his wartime symphonies in the section titled "Alyosha and Natalia in the field -- Attack." A later section, "Storming Seelov Heights", is very exciting and the final 4-5 of 16 score elements build triumphant noise that concludes appropriatley.

The music for "The Unforgettable Year 1919" is not nearly at such an exalted level of inspiration. The main item, a 7-minute mini-piano concerto called "The Assault on the Red Hill", is Shostakovich making fun of the "Warsaw" concerto. The music is stupifying in its bombast and repitition and does little to mask the composer's cynicism he felt during this period.

While less inspired than "The Fall of Berlin", the 7-part score nonetheless nicely fills out a good sounding 75-minute CD that is well played by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Naxos' notes are helpful, as always, and do not include translations of the several sung sections. The DDD sound is very good and exceeds the label's standard.

I've not seen either film although I have witnessed a scene or two from "The Fall of Berlin", notably the penultimate "Stalin at the airport" scene. You can see it on "Shostakovich Against Stalin: The War Symphonies" (ASIN: B000BLBZM0), an outstanding 2006 documentary that details Shostakovich's war symphonies and Stalin's tyranny.

Soundtracks Music CDs

Music Genres
Top music charts in Naxos Soundtracks: Great... and Cheap!
Herrmann: Snows of Kilimanjaro/Five Fingers ImageHerrmann: Snows of Kilimanjaro/ Five Fingers
Release date: 2008-03-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.48
Price in other shops: $9.98
Shostakovich: Odna (Alone) [Silent Film Score] ImageShostakovich: Odna (Alone) [Silent Film Score]
Release date: 2008-01-29; Music CD
Best price: $4.44
Price in other shops: $9.98
Treasure of the Sierra Madre ImageTreasure of the Sierra Madre
Release date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops: $9.98
Hunchback of Notre Dame ImageHunchback of Notre Dame
Release date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops: $9.98
House of Frankenstein ImageOriginal Soundtrack - House of Frankenstein
Release date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops: $9.98
All This, and Heaven Too ImageAll This, and Heaven Too
Release date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Sea Hawk/Deception ImageThe Sea Hawk/ Deception
Release date: 2007-07-31; Music CD
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops: $18.98
The Son of Kong/The Most Dangerous Game ImageThe Son of Kong/ The Most Dangerous Game
Release date: 2006-10-31; Music CD
Best price: $4.63
Price in other shops: $8.99
Rebecca: The 1940 Film Score by Franz Waxman ImageRebecca: The 1940 Film Score by Franz Waxman
Release date: 2005-09-20; Music CD
Best price: $4.04
Price in other shops: $8.99
Shostakovich: The Fall of Berlin, Op. 82; The Unforgettable Year 1919, Op. 89a ImageShostakovich: The Fall of Berlin, Op. 82; The Unforgettable Year 1919, Op. 89a
Release date: 2006-08-29; Music CD
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops: $8.99
Top Rated Albums
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century ImageThe Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
by Alex Ross
Picador; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.15
Price in other shops: $18.00
Red River ImageRed River
Release date: 2005-02-22; Music CD
Best price: $4.91
Price in other shops: $8.99
Shostakovich: The Tale of the Priest and his Worker, Balda; Suite from "Lady Macbeth" ImageShostakovich: The Tale of the Priest and his Worker, Balda; Suite from "Lady Macbeth"
Release date: 2006-07-04; Music CD
Best price: $9.44
Price in other shops: $16.98
Shostakovich: King Lear - Film Music & Incidental Music ImageShostakovich: King Lear - Film Music & Incidental Music
Release date: 1995-04-16; Music CD
Best price: $11.39
Price in other shops: $36.98
The Son of Kong/The Most Dangerous Game ImageThe Son of Kong/ The Most Dangerous Game
Release date: 2006-10-31; Music CD
Best price: $5.29
Price in other shops: $8.99
Captain Blood and Other Swashbucklers ImageCaptain Blood and Other Swashbucklers
Release date: 2005-02-22; Music CD
Best price: $4.68
Price in other shops: $8.99
Shostakovich: The Execution of Stepan Razin; October; Five Fragments ImageShostakovich: The Execution of Stepan Razin; October; Five Fragments
Release date: 2006-03-21; Music CD
Best price: $5.40
Price in other shops: $8.99
Beauty and the Beast ImageBeauty and the Beast
Release date: 2005-02-22; Music CD
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops: $8.99
Hamlet ImageHamlet
Release date: 2004-06-15; Music CD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops: $8.99
Shostakovich: Odna (Alone) [Silent Film Score] ImageShostakovich: Odna (Alone) [Silent Film Score]
Release date: 2008-01-29; Music CD
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops: $9.98
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles