Shostakovich dedicated his Fourteenth Symphony to Benjamin Britten, and so this performance by the dedicatee and two of the soloists who participated in the work’s premiere is of obvious interest. Britten conducts the work with his customary expertise and attention to detail, while the singing is, as one might expect, just about ideal (if not entirely free of a few patches of distortion). However, the playing of the English Chamber Orchestra in the first four songs–particularly “Malagueña”–can’t match that of the various Russian ensembles that have recorded the piece; and the Teldec recording featuring these same singers with Rostropovich at the helm, or any of the various live recordings led by Rudolf Barshai, offer better playing and even more expressive intensity. The performance of Britten’s Nocturne is also excellent, but again not better than the studio recording, which features predictably better sound. Britten fans will want this for the symphony.
