Maxim Shostakovich’s performances of his father’s music on Supraphon have been so much finer than his previous recordings for Collins Classics that they might be the work of a different conductor. His version of the Sixth Symphony is lively and appealing, and the couplings are genuinely interesting (particularly the interludes from Katerina Izmaylova, a.k.a. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk). That said, his conducting has neither the frenzy of Järvi (in the opera interludes), nor the concentration of Mravinsky or Berglund (in the symphony), and the playing of the Prague Symphony Orchestra is decent rather than exceptional. There’s a lot of competition in this music, and while these performances certainly won’t disappoint, they certainly aren’t the last word either. To hear what Maxim Shostakovich really can do with his father’s music, try his Supraphon Fourth and 13th Symphonies, or his Melodiya Fifth.
