Search - Dmitry Shostakovich, Yevgeny Mravinsky, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra :: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8

Probably the best available recording

Heavy Theta | Lorton, Va United States | 08/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not that I know anything about Shostakovich. I originally started poking through the amazon reviews for the 15th based solely the fact that scaruffi lists it as the best musical work of the last couple of decades. And not that I often agree with the guy, but I have to admit that he's turned me on to a lot of stuff I wasn't familiar with.



Anyway, somehow the reviews moved me from the 15th to the 7th, and finally to the 8th. (I think the 10th will be my next move.) At this point it came down to recordings, with many reviewers mentioning Mravinsky, though often wary of the sound quality and especially a disturbing amount of coughing in the audience. Well this cd isn't that concert. This is 1982, which I gather was the 100th anniversary of the orchestra involved and probably kind of a last hurrah for the old maestro (whom this symphony was apparently originally dedicated to). The sound quality is superb in what sounds for all the world a studio performance.



And the performance can only be described as dynamic and fully engaged with this moody, haunting, heart wrenching piece. This is emotion of the strongest level without any compromise to sentimentality. I suppose it reflects being authored during one of history's most noted sieges, but it struck me more as a powerful abstraction than musical recreation.



Anyway, I confess to a level of ignorance that should give any serious collector pause. So let me also note my delight in the unexpected sticker on the plastic wrap declaring this disc as a Penguin "best choice". My hunch is that this is the real deal, and that at some point soon Amazon will get around to getting the album cover up on their site. (Previously Phillips 4224422 "Legendary Classic".)"