Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 - Part: De profundis Albert Dohmen, Estonian National Male Choir, BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds

• Arvo Pärt (b. 1935): De profundis:
• 1 Pärt: De profundis 06:55
• Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 "Babi Yar":
• 2 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 "Babi Yar": I. Babi Yar 16:10
• 3 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 "Babi Yar": II. Humour 08:34
• 4 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 "Babi Yar": III. In the Store 12:00
• 5 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 "Babi Yar": IV. Fears 12:00
• 6 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 "Babi Yar": V. Career 13:50
• Total Runtime 01:09:29

Info for Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 - Part: De profundis

John Storgards's acclaimed series of Shostakovich symphonies continues with this recording of Symphony No. 13. The BBC Philharmonic is joined by the bass-baritone Albert Dohmen and the Estonian National Male Choir. The symphony, subtitled 'Babiy Yar', caused a great deal of tension and controversy in the lead-up to its premiere, in December 1962 - not because of the music, but the poetry. Shostakovich had chosen to set Yevgeny Yevtushenko's Babiy Yar. Ostensibly an outraged response to the lack of a memorial for the thousands of Jews murdered by the Nazis and dumped in a ravine near Kyiv, the poem implicitly criticised the anti-Semitism then still rife in the Soviet Union. Originally planned as a short cantata, the work grew in stature as Shostakovich chose additional poems by Yevtushenko for inclusion, finally settling on the form of a five-movement symphony. The tone of the poems was as near to being openly subversive as any Soviet literary material could be at the time without actually being banned by the authorities, but the eventual premiere was a triumph. Arvo Part's De profundis was composed for male voices, organ, and percussion in 1980. Here we hear the composer's later adaptation of the piece for male voices and chamber orchestra, from 2008. The short work is a perfect example of the style the composer termed 'tintinnabuli' and an aesthetic that others would later label 'holy minimalism'.

Albert Dohmen, bass-baritone
Estonian National Male Choir
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
John Storgards, conductor

Albert Dohmen
can look back on a long international career with a first highlight in 1997 performing Wozzeck at the Salzburg Easter and Summer Festival with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras conducted by Claudio Abbado and directed by Peter Stein. He subsequently worked with famous conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado, James Conlon and many others. Albert Dohmen has been interpreting the important roles of his fach (like Kurwenal, Pizarro, Wotan, Amfortas, Holländer, Scarpia, Bluebeard, Hans Sachs) at all major opera houses such as the Bastille in Paris, Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, at the opera houses of Zurich, Amsterdam, the Liceo Barcelona, the Vienna State Opera, the opera in Los Angeles etc. He made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Jochanaan (Salome).

Albert Dohmen established himself as one of the leading Wotan singers of his generation. He sang this part in complete Ring cycles in Trieste, Geneva, Catania, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna State Opera, at Dutch National Opera Amsterdam and at the MET, just to name a few.

Recent highlights include his debut as Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) in Geneva and Barcelona, as Gurnemanz (Parsifal) in Geneva, as Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten) in Florence under the direction of Zubin Mehta as well as Orest (Elektra) in Baden-Baden under Christian Thielemann, Jochanaan (Salome) in Amsterdam, Commendatore (Don Giovanni) at the Vienna State Opera, Daland in The Flying Duchman in Paris, Falstaff in Stuttgart, King Marke (Tristan und Isolde) in Barcelona, Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) at La Scala in Milan and in 2022 his debut as Hagen in Götterdämmerung at the Vienna State Opera.

Albert Dohmen made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival 2007 performing Wotan/Wanderer in the Ring cycles with revivals in the following years. In the Bayreuth Ring cycles 2015 – 2018 he sang the role of Alberich. At the 2022 festival he sang Hagen and made his role debut as Landgraf Hermann (Tannhäuser).

Albert Dohmen is also a very successful concert singer: He has sung the entire bass repertoire from Bach to Schönberg in all important concert halls and at international festivals, for example Beethoven´s 9th symphony under Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Brahms´ Requiem, again under Kurt Masur at the St. Denis Festival, Mahler´s 8th Symphony under Valery Gergiev and Gurre-Lieder, Beethoven’s 9th under James Levine. He also has various recital programmes, which he can be heard with in renowned concert halls. In 2021 Albert Dohmen received a special honour by being invited to perform in a concert of Shostakovich’s 13th symphony in Babi Yar with the DSO Berlin conducted by Thomas Sanderling, organized by the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre.

Among the numerous CDs documenting his artistic output, special mention should be made of his recordings of Zemlinsky’s Florentine Tragedy with the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly and his three recordings under Sir Georg Solti (Die Frau ohne Schatten, Fidelio and Meistersinger).

Booklet for Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 - Part: De profundis