This single-disc collection competes obliquely with two other fabulous recordings: Järvi’s older issue of the first three ballet suites on Chandos, and Kuchar’s three-disc box of film and ballet selections on Brilliant Classics. As I have noted elsewhere, this isn’t music that requires much in the form of interpretive nuance: rather excitement, strong rhythm, and vivid colors will carry the day. This is exactly what Dmitry Yablonsky offers. He may not be as sumptuously recorded as Järvi, but he gives you the Ballet Suite No. 4 as a bonus at a fraction of the cost. Anyone wanting a more varied selection of pieces may opt for the Kuchar, which is very inexpensive and even more vibrantly played and recorded (though not by much)–but then the Ballet Suites 1-4 offered here, as distinct from the suites from the individual ballets, contain numbers from all of Shostakovich’s dance and film scores, while Kuchar focuses on specific works. As a result, not all of the music on this disc is included in Kuchar’s collection–about two-thirds of it is. So the choice is yours: the music is great fun, if a little relentless, and you can’t go wrong with these gutsy, wholly idiomatic, well-recorded performances.
