What we have here is a single disc excerpted from a three-disc set of
Shostakovich's lighter music with
Theodore Kuchar conducting the
National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine. While those listeners who have heard the original set may understandably be uninterested in this disc, those listeners who are looking for a single disc of lighter
Shostakovich could not do better than to try this disc. With both Jazz Suites and both the Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Themes and the Festive Overture, plus the eternally ephemeral Novorossijsk Chimes, the disc includes most of
Shostakovich's best light music. And with the strong, sweet and sometimes slutty performance by
Kuchar and the
NSO of the Ukraine, they are all about as well done as they have ever been.
Kuchar leads a delightfully frothy Jazz Suite No. 2, an infectiously rambunctious Overture on Russian and Kirghiz Themes, a magnificently rousing Festive Overture, an ephemeral but ethereal Novorossijsk Chimes, and a lubriciously decadent Jazz Suite No. 1 that makes a cold shower afterwards absolutely mandatory. Brilliant's original sound was so real the listener could hear the sweat on the saxophone player's lip. The super audio CD remastering is so real the listener can smell the sweat.