Search - Shostakovich, Bychkov, Bpo :: Symphony 8

Less tragedy, less oppression, less impact

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bychkov never got to finish his Shostakovich cycle with the Berlin Phil.; I believe this Eighth Sym. from 1990 was the last installment, and like its predecessors, the Fifth and Seventh, that I've heard, the orchestra is a marvel. Karajan had just died the year before, but little remains of Cadillac sheen and high gloss from that era. The Berliners under Bychkov are about a clean, disciplined line, fantastic ensemble, and deep but not lush sonorities.



The Shostakovich Eighth is so relentlessly gloomy, so much in tones of gray for more than an hour, that it helps to leaven it with the refinement Bychkov brings--he never lets the music thud and pound. This is the least opressive recording I've ever heard. Even the screaming agony of the trumpet-piccolo shrieks in the third movement are restrained.



Does this approah work overall? I thought so during the 25-min. first movement, whose long buildup into a crushing moan of despair is often hurt by starting out in too much pain. Bychkov gives a calmer, slower build, and his climax is all the more telling when it comes.



But then it became apparent that he was going to smooth out all the edges in the later movements, too. If the Eighth contained inspired orchestral touches, vivid colors, or even notable themes, Bychkov would have scored a bigger success. As it is, Mravinsky shows the way by squeezing the maximum agony from every bar (especially in his live London peformance on BBC), relieved by the fourth movement Largo and its respite from pain. Compared to him, Bychkov misses the tragedy, and his refinements point up the banality of the musical material Shostakovich employs for long stretches, until the eerie transcendence at the very end.



This piece must mean something personal to Bychkov, since he recorded it again with his current German orchestra. I appreciate the best parts of this performance and am grateful to hear the Berlin Phil. in Shostakovich, a composer Karajan didn't favor beyond one piece, the Tenth Symphony. But for sheer brutal impact one has to look elsewhere.



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