Leopold Stokowski gets off to a good start in Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, with sharp rhythmic stabs opening a first movement that builds to frenzied climax, where the New York Philharmonic (in its summertime guise as the New York Stadium Symphony) plays with real gusto. The conductor also creates a suitably sarcastic air in the scherzo, with quick pacing and peppy, colorful woodwinds. However, in the elegiac Largo, Stokowski noticeably lessens the intensity: the great climax sounds tepid in his hands, especially compared to the grinding tension found in Bernstein’s contemporary performance with the same orchestra. Stokowski begins the finale in a blaze of energy, but this is soon dampened by lackadaisical brass playing and by the recording’s weak low-end, which renders the climactic bass-drum thuds inert. Regardless, Stokowski fans most likely will want this performance, for its rarity if nothing else. Other listeners should go for the Bernstein, which also includes an excellent Shostakovich Ninth.
