Mark Wigglesworth
Shostakovich recordings on BIS
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Click on the link below to hear Mark Wigglesworth and the Netherlands Radio Phiharmonic Orchestra in the opening of Shostakovich's Symphony No.9 on BIS:
Shostakovich Symphonies No.s 9 & 12 / Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
"Wigglesworth’s fine ear for orchestral sonority always brings out unusual elements in the scoring. His insights make this performance and that of the 12th well worth hearing, and an extremely viable alternative to the complete cycles that are delivered under the direction of Kitajenko, Kondrashin or Jansons."
BBC Music Choice, BBC Music Magazine, December 2007
"Mark Wigglesworth’s stop-go Shostakovich cycle has been gathering momentum without compromising its particular characteristics of high seriousness, fine detailing and a certain fierceness of articulation."
David Gutman, Gramophone Magazine, December 2007
"Shostakovich's Twelfth Symphony may not be his best, but it certainly doesn't lack for excellent performances, and this is certainly one of the very finest. The work poses few interpretive problems: it needs to be played hard, fast, and loud, with as much ensemble precision as possible. That's exactly what Mark Wiggleworth does. There are moments here that no other version comes close to matching: the final climax of the first movement, the fusillade of symphonic gunfire that leads into the finale, and much of the latter, including the coda, equaled only by Mravinsky."
David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com, December 2007
Click on the link below to hear an extract from Shostakovich's
Symphony No.13 'Babi Yar':
Symphony No 13, 'Babi Yar' / Netherlands Radio Choir & Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
"Occasionally, among the avalanche of Shostakovich centenary-year recordings, along comes one that really makes a difference. Wigglesworth secures brilliantly characterised playing from the orchestra, with a fine contribution from Rootering."
Malcolm Hayes, Classic FM Magazine, December 2006
"Mark Wigglesworth’s Shostakovich cycle continues with probably the most convincing Thirteenth to have appeared in the West….Almost 45 years on from its première, the audacity of a work such as Babi Yar in confronting social hypocrisy can seem hard to recapture. Wigglesworth’s reading may not be the last word – but with SACD sound bringing out hitherto unsuspected subtleties in Shostakovich’s scoring, it conveys the work’s emotional power to impressive effect. As a modern complement to Kondrashin’s studio version, one cannot do better."
Richard Whitehouse, International Record Review, October 2006.
"Wigglesworth's handling of the opening ritornello theme in the finale, "A Career", has a pastoral gentleness unmatched by just about any other performance, and the closing pages are simply magical. I think it's probably safe to say that this performance offers the most satisfying conclusion captured thus far. I don't know how many "Babi Yars" you have, or how many you may think you need, but if you're in the market, then let this one be one of them."
David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com, October 2006
Symphony No.8 / Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
"Mark Wigglesworth obviously knows his way around this music, and he shapes a powerful and intelligent performance… The playing of the woodwinds in the finale, particularly the bassoons and oboes, is simply magnificent, and once again Wigglesworth resists the tendency to linger interminably over its more elegiac moments. The exhausted recapitulation after the final climax is exactly right, and the gentle coda has all of that touching, emotional ambiguity that makes this symphony so moving an experience. Excellent sonics, both in stereo and multichannel formats, help to make this a performance that truly delivers the goods."
David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com, October 2005
"There is much to admire here. Wigglesworth is a fast-maturing conductor and it is good that we have this opportunity to track his career. The Netherlanders respond well and with devotion to his direction, and the sound secured by Bis is beyond reproach."
Colin Clarke, Music Web International, October 2005
Symphony No 14 / BBC National Orchestra of Wales
"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… Wigglesworth's rendition belongs in the top rank among modern versions."
Victor Carr Jr, Classics Today.com, July 2001
Links:
BIS Records
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra