First, some back story on the history behind the music. The 11th symphony vividly tells the story of the revolution of 1905, centered on the infamous "Bloody Sunday" massacre, when the Tsar's Imperial Guard gunned down hundreds of peaceful protesters. Although the Soviet Union didn't come about until the revolution of 1917, the revolution of 1905 was extremely important for Russia and the Soviet identity. In fact, the main square in Yekaterinburg, where I spent most of my two years in Russia, is named "Square of the Year 1905".
Shostakovich had an uneasy relationship with the Soviet authorities, and the 11th symphony was written with them in mind: by focusing on such a canonized event in Soviet history, Shostakovich publically demonstrated his fealty to Soviet ideals. The symphony helped rehabilitate Shostakovich in the eyes of the authorities.
Soviet artists were expected to create art that was understandable to the masses, and the 11th symphony, on the surface, tells a clear and literal story about the events of 1905. During the second movement, the symphony reenacts the massacre, complete with gunfire (on the snare drum), and a stampede of thousands of frightened protesters, chased by troops. In addition to telling a foundational story, the symphony is constructed from Russian hymns and folk-songs from the revolution. To the listeners of 1957, these melodies brought back vivid memories of their past.
To some of those listeners, it also brought back more recent memories: of the Hungarian uprising of 1956, which had been mercilessly crushed by Soviet troops. The music forced me to pause and think about all the violent protests going on around the world today.
I don't think it was an accident that Shostakovich evoked sacred memories of 1905 while also bringing up terrifying events of his time when the wrote the symphony. The music is full of ambiguities; although it won the Lenin prize, it can also be read as a protest against the brutality of the Soviet era. Double readings permeate the music; for example, the symphony ends with a series of chords which are both major and minor, with the last notes resonating in both G major and G minor on bells, blazing out in conflicted glory after the orchestra falls silent.
Despite the layers of meaning which give the music more depth in my mind, the surface treatment of the symphony is bombastic and didactic, the opposite of subtle or thoughtful. This has lowered its reputation in the art world, which doesn't like feeling patronized. I think this is one of the reasons it gets performed so seldomly: those who know classical music well often dismiss it as partisan hackery. That plus its length and difficulty: the symphony is fully an hour long, and all four movements are performed without any pause. It takes a massive group to perform it, as well - two harps and a celeste in addition to an expanded symphony orchestra.
I've been listening to this symphony frequently, ever since I bought a recording while living in Russia, but I've never heard it live. So, I was really excited to see it on the San Francisco Symphony's schedule this year. The performance was quite something - the orchestra, led by Semyon Bychkov, played passionately and really brought the music to life.
A few highlights. The artful way the strings played the swirling triplet motif, so evocative of Russian snow flurries. The plexiglass barriers set up to shield the orchestra from the percussion section, who really got to shine. There were moments where the bass drum, snare drum, and timpani were heartstoppingly loud. And the gongs! One guy got to play two gongs at once! He set the gongs on either side, and held a hammer in each hand. To strike both at the same time, he had to cross his arms in front and then swing outwards. It was incredibly intense. The trumpet solos were perfectly sculpted and pitched, and the trombone choir was phenomenal. The longest English horn solo in all the orchestral repertoire was the perfect respite before the roller coaster ending. And Bychkov took some of the tempi in interesting and compelling directions that I'd never heard on any of my recordings before.
Overall, I was really happy with the performance, which gave me goosebumps many times and brought me to tears with its fervent intensity. It wasn't perfect, though - the orchestra didn't seem quite ready for some of Bychkov's tempo changes, and had problems getting the pulse re-centered. There were some moments of bad intonation from the brass. And the bells they chose for the final notes of the symphony weren't as resonant as I think they needed to be, which ruined the final chord.
Still, it was a triumphant performance of an important work. Thanks to Semyon Bychkov for bringing this massive work to San Francisco - it was an evening I'll never forget.
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