MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             

CD REVIEW



Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

 


 

 

Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Symphony No.8 in C Minor Op.65 (1943) [63:05]
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Sir Georg Solti
rec. 1989. DDD
DECCA LONDON 425675 [63:05] 


Sir Georg Solti came to Shostakovich rather late in his career. His pedigree as a Mahler conductor and his experiences as a musician from a land behind the Iron Curtain would suggest that Shostakovich's symphonies should suit him. However, although this performance of the Eighth promises much, it ultimately fails to deliver. 

The opening Adagio is actually pretty impressive, at first, with Solti drawing a full, throaty sonority from the Chicago strings. The inexorable, mournful pull of the music is reinforced by Solti's firm pulse, and his pacing is just about right – measured, but relentless. The Chicago brass in full cry at the climaxes are most impressive. Then something goes awry. Solti drops his game at the transition into the galumphing motif that begins about 14:30 into the movement. What was a great arc of music, building in tension with every bar, suddenly becomes a tad slack. The music's momentum is allowed to lapse and Shostakovich's gestures become more episodic and less significant. 

The second movement plods and ensemble begins to suffer somewhat, though the quality of the Chicago sound is still impressive. It is hard to define exactly why this movement lacks tension in Solti's hands. It is not a question of pacing, as he is faster than Barshai on Brilliant Classics and not much behind Jansons on EMI, but somehow both Barshai and Jansons manage to build the second movement into the third organically in a way Solti does not manage. His third movement also suffers from the lack of a clear pulse. Almost immediately, the entries become imprecise and tempo unsteady. The trombone choir that can be so impressively declamatory is here simply a bit messy. The orchestral support for the crazy lone trumpeter is muted. 

The big climax that opens the fourth movement – a moment that for me is forever tied to the image of Stalin's head bursting into flame, thanks to Tony Palmer – is very effective though. This movement brings a return to the apt pacing and organic growth, with some lovely solo playing from the lone bird piccolo, underlined by a bleak wash of sound from the strings. The finale packs a punch, but again I find Solti's approach episodic rather than integrated here. The final bars do not have the same ringing desolation that you find with Neeme Järvi's account on Chandos, which for me remains an overall first choice.

This is by no means a terrible recording. It just isn't a great one. 

Tim Perry 

 

 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.