It is not very often that an older European film score makes it to disc.  Fortunately, with the many marks of the Shostakovich centenary (in 2006) came a few new recordings of the composer's lesser known works often intriguingly programmed with the more familiar.  Among those was a two-disc set of the composer's score for The New Babylon.  That score is one of the finest silent film scores of the 1920s though it was rather unfortunately recorded to picture and sound was a problem in Soviet film at the time.  Shostakovich also had a difficult time trying to match his more formal concert sensibilities to the needs of film, something painfully realized once the film was re-cut and edited after the music had been composed and recorded to an earlier version of the film.  Still, the Capriccio release of that score is a real hallmark recording.

Now at an unbelievably reduced price from the always amazing Naxos label comes a brand new complete recording of Shostakovich's next score for Trauberg, Odna (Alone).  The timing of the disc comes to just under 80 minutes and is presented on a single CD.  The score has been reconstructed and pieced back together by conductor Mark Fitz-Gerald.  The present recording is a mix of live and studio presentation (though it is impossible to discern this).

If you enjoy Shostakovich's modernistic style with a semi-light touch, Odna may be worth your time.  There is less of the sardonic wit that one finds in the composer's work here and instead of a variety of melodic ideas, the composer focuses on setting moods through a varied orchestration. There are some intriguing effects in this score not the least of which is the appearance of a theremin towards the end of the score.  The story of the film at one point heads into the Altai region of Russia and here the composer has written a vocal line recquiring a unique type of overtone singing that was popular in tribal music from this region.  It is performed by an expert reviver of this style Mark van Tongeren. 

Naxos outlines the various scenes separated by reels and each scene receives a track essentially (48 tracks altogether here) as is noted in the accompanying booklet for the release.  New items include the reconstructed music for a reel that has since been lost, and the restored "overture" and "prelude."

There are many delightful moments including some wonderful march ideas and fascinating orchestral colors.

Once in a while, a suite of music from this film score appears in concerts.  One of the better more recent recordings was on Decca/London and featured Riccardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw Orchestra.  That compilation of Shostakovich's music is still worth tracking down.  This new Naxos release features a fabulous performance by the Radio Orchestra in Frankfurt.  One can hope that there is more from Mr. Fitz-Gerald to come.     

Today marks the birthdate of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975).  Shostakovich's music was probably the first music I heard as "contemporary" mostly because of his name being in the news when I was younger.  The first piece I heard though was from his more accessible period, the wonderful Festive Overture--even this was on an old Boston Pops LP.  But it was one LP that included his first symphony and the Cello Concerto where I became a bit more interested in his music.  That recording, with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Rostropovich the soloist) was a real favorite of mine shaping my interest in contemporary music.  His fifth symphony all but cemented this when I found an old recording on a bargain bin CD featuring his son Maxim conducting (since reissued again on an RCA CD). 

Last year was the Shostakovich Centenary but the musical world seemed to do little to mark it.  It may have more to do with the fact that so much of the composer's music has been available quite readily.  He certainly has fared well on record.  The earlier symphonies, through at least the 10th, are my personal favorites with Bernard Haitink being my preferred conductor for many of these recordings.  I was surprised to see that the 4th seemed to pop up more often of late, it's the most difficult to bring off but Jansons seems to have found at least one way to make it's large structures make sense.

In the string quartets we hear some of the most interesting of the composer's output and even for those who often dislike chamber music, Shostakovich's string quartets are well worth being acquainted with as a whole.  The Manhattan String Quartet put out a complete survey of these several years ago for ESS.AY which are among the finest performances on CD. 

Also worth tracking down are the Chandos film music series featuring cues from throughout the composer's works for film.  I'm a little partial to The Golden Mountains.

If there are some key works worth adding to your collection I would suggest these:

Cello Concerto #1
Piano Concerto #2
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (opera)
String Quartet #8 and 12
Symphony #s 1, 5, 7, 10

There are a couple of good compilations of Shostakovich's "lighter music" conducted by Riccardo Chailly that are also a little easier to get to know some of his style.