ショスタコーヴィチ: 交響曲全集

作曲者と親交のあったロストロポーヴィチならではのホットかつ重量感たっぷりのアプローチの聴ける全集。第7番や第10番はもちろん、初期の作品に至るまで徹底して大きな身振りと熱い歌心で再現された、"定番"的存在として広く知られた演奏です。ロストロポーヴィチが当時関係の深かったワシントン・ナショナル交響楽団とロンドン交響楽団に振り分けて録音されていますが、第14番『死者の歌』に関してはロストロポーヴィチ自身の希望により、これ以上の演奏は不可能と言うことで再録音はされず、ロストロポーヴィチ、ヴィシネフスカヤ夫妻がソヴィエトから亡命する直前に録音された迫感が凄まじい演奏が収録されています。
ワーナーミュージック・ジャパン

As the 15 symphonies of Dmitry Shostakovich grow in stature with the passage of time, the increasing number of complete recordings attests to their lasting significance. As a friend of the composer and a conductor of considerable artistic merit, if not always the greatest technical skill, Mstislav Rostropovich has been regarded as one of the most authoritative interpreters of the symphonies, and the set of his performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of Moscow is often recommended. Rostropovich's handling of an orchestra may not have been consistent, but his musical virtues far outweigh his few faults, and most of his performances in this cycle equal the best of other conductors. These recordings, made between 1989 and 1997, were released as separate CDs and as a box set by Teldec in 1998, and the reissue by Warner restores these long out-of-print performances to the catalog. As is inevitable in a package of this scope, the audio quality of the recordings varies somewhat between the performances, the different orchestras, and the changes of venue, but Rostropovich's commitment to the music holds the set together, and the high quality of expression and execution count more than the vagaries of reproduction.