cd/dvd releases

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No 7

WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln - Avie

The satisfaction of making that choice can be heard in the recordings made in the Cologne Philharmonie. It can be seen too. Both the orchestra and the conductor listen patiently to the sound engineer’s criticisms and put their heart and soul into this outstanding recording of Dmitry Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony. There are several above-average recordings of Shostakovich’s seventh symphony (including one by this very orchestra) – but Bychkov’s reading is audibly in a class of its own.
Financial Times Deutschland, December 03

STRAUSS Ein Heldenleben / Metomorphosen

WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln - Avie

Semyon Bychkov’s Op 40 ‘Hero’ is the sort you could happily live with: he knows his worth but doesn’t thrust his exploits in your face. The opening self-portrait more or less says it all, a confident exposition (warm strings, strong brass, crystal-clear timps), well paced, sonorous but never over-forceful...Note also how skilfully Bychkov projects the subtle quieter elements of Strauss’s score, such as low wind chords or inner string lines . . . this is a musical Heldenleben, and much the same goes for Metamorphosen where the line remains fluid but constant, urged on (though never hampered) by genuine warmth of feeling. You sense that the notes and their emotional subtext are being granted an equal footing.
Gramophone, June 03

Bychkov knows exactly what to do on firm ground, focusing the rhythmic and textual interplays of the galumphing opening gambit and taking his protagonist’s downhearted response to critical adversaries seriously (how well the superb Cologne woodwind tongue and coil their way around the noble victim).
BBC Music Magazine , June 03

Bychkov’s intelligent musical mind is at work from the start, and he makes the listener see (or hear) the bigger picture, refusing to play to the gallery or give us odd moments in ‘technicolour’, of which some versions are guilty. That’s not to say there isn’t excitement aplenty, but it is cumulative, and therefore more effective. The gloriously broad opening melody, which sets the tone for the whole piece, is paced to perfection, its contours and shaping underpinned by exquisite phrasing and dynamics. The music swells and relaxes, really breathes, and the strings are encouraged by their conductor to give and take as one, almost like a chamber ensemble. The critics carp beautifully in section 2, and I doubt there could be more characterful or sweet-toned solo violin playing than Kyoko Shikata’s in section 3, ‘The Hero’s Companion’, an affectionate but waspish representation of the composer’s wife Pauline . . . Bychkov has shown what a superb technician, trainer and all round inspiration he can be...The recording quality is superb, fully capturing the now famous acoustic in Cologne.
Music Web, May 03

Strauss is a perfect match for the yearning strings and glowering brass of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, under the baton of its chief conductor Semyon Bychkov…Ein Heldenleben paired with the later, much more reflective Metamorphosen for 23 strings…are treated with real sympathy and great character.
The London Magazine, January 03

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No 7

WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln - Avie

This is a thoughtful as well as a dynamic interpretation, and Bychkov’s is a compelling vision of this masterpiece. His recording demonstrates why this symphony remains a convincing example of Shostakovich’s often-contradictory art. On the strength of these two discs (Mahler 3), it would appear that this new combination of conductor, orchestra and record label bodes well for listeners and collectors looking for insightful and splendidly executed (and recorded) performances of core repertoire (and perhaps the occasional contemporary surprise).
Fanfare, September 03

The satisfaction of making that choice can be heard in the recordings made in the Cologne Philharmonie. It can be seen too. Both the orchestra and the conductor listen patiently to the sound engineer’s criticisms and put their heart and soul into this outstanding recording of Dmitry Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony. There are several above-average recordings of Shostakovich’s seventh symphony (including one by this very orchestra) – but Bychkov’s reading is audibly in a class of its own.
Financial Times Deutschland, September 03

I should stress that the playing itself is consistently classy, solo-for-solo superior to that of Gergiev’s hybrid orchestra and with greater depth and coherence in the strings, which pays handsome dividends in the communal lamenting in the outer sections of the third movement.
Gramophone, August 03

Semyon Bychkov gives it an exceptionally well-proportioned interpretation, excitingly menacing in the militaristic first movement, with its famous Bolero-like episode, but with ravishing string tone in this movement’s reflective coda. In many respects the Adagio is the finest movement, its solemn chorale-like opening shattered by a martial episode. In the finale, the weak point of some interpretations, Bychkov holds its disparate parts firmly together and steers it to the convincing ending when the work comes full circle.
The Sunday Telegraph, June 03

The heart of the symphony is undoubtedly the adagio, a hauntingly tuneful lament for the victims of tyranny, and it is played with a rapt beauty here, the strings of the West German Radio SO having nothing to fear from comparison with Gergiev’s Kirov/Rotterdam forces in his recent Philips version. Bychkov is a superlative Shostakovich interpreter, thrilling and moving; and this performance is certainly one of the best ever committed to disc.
The Sunday Times, June 03

The finale is justly powerful, yet he never rushes or drives the orchestra too hard. In the Scherzo, the oboe solo excels in the pastoral secondary theme, and in the Adagio movement, the woodwind harmony is well balanced, and the exchange with the strings is beautifully taken. One can sense the sheer translucency of the string section. The second half of this movement is often compared to the stillness before the battle, and it depicts superbly the isolation of the solitary composer…The hallmark of this conductor is this simplicity and unexaggerated style.
Record Geijutsu, June 03

There are many fine points to this reading, with much exemplary solo work: try the flute duet in the third movement. The present disc also identifies the WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne as a force to be reckoned with. The Bychkov/Cologne partnership is clearly one to watch.

Several years after Svetlanov & Swedish Radio; Jansons & Leningrad; Temirkanov & St Petersburg, Semyon Bychkov - at the head of the modest, yet excellent WDR Sinfonieo-Orchester Köln - plays like the conductors Mravinski, Rojdestvenski, Svetlanov and Jansons before him, the tension card which lends to the piece all its force. Distinctly more assured and precise than Valery Gergiev, Bychkov conducts the first movement with striking confidence. At the same time he succeeds in erasing numerous unwanted exterior effects.
Le Monde de la Musique, February 03