This is one red-hot Shostakovich Fourteenth. Mark Wigglesworth holds nothing in reserve as he leads a blazing account of the score, with the BBC Wales Orchestra providing some wonderfully gutsy string playing (the frenzied leaping in Malaguena and the brutal slashing of the Zaporozhian Cossacks’ Answer), and driven, searingly precise percussion. The tubular bells evoke dread whenever they are struck, and the rude prominence given the woodblock enhances its chilling effect. Both singers skirt the edge, going all out in their portrayals. Joan Rogers projects palpable desperation in Loreley, near-hysteria in Malaguena, and resigned gloom in The Suicide. John Tomlinson sings with a miraculous combination of suavity, depravity, and grit that makes his De profundis, Zaporozhian Cossacks’ Answer, and O Delvig especially enthralling. Of course, you’ll still have to seek out Rostropovich’s pioneering recording to feel the full lacerating impact of the work (when it was still new), and to experience the exquisite, benumbed horror embodied by Galina Vishnevskaya. But, with demonstration quality sound from BIS (watch that extremely wide dynamic range!), Wigglesworth’s rendition belongs in the top rank among modern versions.
