Leonard Bernstein - Shostakovich Symphony No. 7New York Philharmonic 1962


DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60 New York Philharmonic LEONARD BERNSTEIN, conductor Recorded Philharmonic Hall, New York, NY on 11-14 October1962

With my penchant for comparing performances, here is another live Bernstein Leningrad Symphony as a companion to the Chicago Symphony version posted earlier.
Although timing tells you relatively little, here is a comparison of the length of each movement:
NEW YORK: 28:17 / 13:32 / 16:48 / 16:40 CHICAGO: 32:02 / 14:52 / 19:33 / 18:37
Though the duration of each movement is longer in Chicago what is interesting to see is that the proportions of the symphony remain remarkably consistent, perhaps indicating that Bernstein's conception of the work changed little in the nearly 25 years which separate the concerts.
No doubt some will prefer the fleeter New York concert while those with slower metabolic rates will gravitate to the Chicago performance. I hope that you, like myself and the Gnome, find time in your lives for both.

PS - The Leningrad premiere of the Seventh was conducted by Karl Eliasberg on 09 August 1942. You can find an excellent 1964 concert performance of the symphony under Eliasberg here on the very fine PANOVIK blog.
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