SYMPHONY 8

03-25-2015 Here is an Alto recording f the Shostakovich 8th Symphony conducted by the legendary Yevgeny Mravinsky, leading his Leningrad Philharmonic orchestra in the 1982 version of this great work. It was written in the Summer of 1843, closely in the heels of his &7th , the "Leningrad." The "live' performance was recorded in 1982 in the city of his birth and career, Leningrad. Timing is 61:10 and this CD was remastered a few years later. ARTISTIC IMPRESSIONS AND THOUGHTS The less than total success of his preceding work, the 7th Sym., gave the composer the impetus to "improve" with this c minor piece of music that was one of polite but perplexed reception. The trying to define the desolate landscape of his native county my reasoning being this. Was the impact of this War Symphony the gallant defense of the beloved former St. Petersburg or was it the "triumphs" of Stalinism?? Knowing now, what we do, the composer was likely attempting to describe the bleak and tragic country that Stalin had nearly destroyed with his murderous paranoia and suspicions. The Nazis were another thing and they do seem to contribute to the chaos but mostly, it is a lop-sided balance between Stalin and Hitler. Mravinsky's tempi and rhythms are typically Russian, which is to say, faster than the general number of conductors, and even the Italians. This may not work that well with Brahms and/or Vaughan Williams, but for Russians like Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and certainly Shostakovich, it seems THE method of choice. The Alto records sound is, unfortunately, thin, limp and under volume , which is bad news for music of this immense presence. Much more favorable is the sound we get from Haitink/London and Semyon Bychkov/Philips, just to name a pair. I bought this CD because I wanted to hear the great Mravinsky at work, however, the poor and lacking Alto soundstage appears a deal killer. My lone consolation in this matter is that I did not pay much at all, for the disk, perhaps 2-4 dollars. Other Altos I have in my library sound quite a bit better than this guy, so, oh well. Despite these disappointments, I mildly recommend a Mravinsky 8th, but only if there has been an improvement in sonics, but that is a BIG IF!!! At any rate, my best wishes to you all and a sincere God bless all, Tony. AMDG!!!!!!

Mravinsky's performances of Shostakovich's symphonies are among the best of those works, and this recording, made in 1982, is one of the best of the 8th. All the power and sarcastic bitterness of this piece are fully realized in a performance that will probably never be surpassed. I emailed Paul Arden-Taylor, the engineer from Dinmore Records who re-mastered this recording, and he very kindly answered my questions about the pitch correction in question here. If you know this recording from its Philips incarnation, you may notice that the performance seems faster in that recording and that certain details in recorded sound are clearer. Mr. Arden-Taylor explainedthat, "Apparently, the Philips issue was well known for being siginficantly sharp, and so for the Alto reissue, we took the opportunity to adjust the pitch to what we estimated would be correct, which I think was a shade above A=440 [standard concert pitch]. As for the actual sound of the recording, I would certainly have optimised it as far as any limitations of the source material would allow." I think that what Philips MAY have done is to attempt to clean up the recording by playing with the tape speed, but they apparently went too far, though I still find their recording cleaner in certain details, such as in the sound of the hi-hat cymbal accompaning the trumpet solo in the B section of the third movement. In this Alto re-issue, the cymbal is barely audible, while in the Philips release, it's much clearer. But, I don't have perfect pitch, and, of course, one must go with the experts, so we have to accept this new Alto release as being the definitive recording of this great performance. In brief, get this new Alto cd for this must-have performance, but also get the one by Vasily Petrenko (Naxos), or by Bernard Haitink (Decca), or by Valery Gergiev (Philips), or any other newer recording you like for better sound. This Alto contains an historic document, which makes it a basic recording, regardless of the issues of sound and engineering.

With the Philips release  Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8, Op. 65  discredited (it was a semitone sharp), and the Regis pitch-corrected release, but OOP and increasingly expensive  Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 , this release is the one to have. It is identical to the Regis release (pitch-corrected) with excellent notes about Mravinsky's recording history of this symphony. The remastering excellent and audience mercifully quiet. Although I absolutely hate the term, I consider this performance as 'definitive' as we're ever going to hear.

This version of the 8th is the most poignantly powerful interpretation of all that are available. It is played with great integrity and beautifully recorded given the circumstances of the date and place of the recording.

Beautiful mix of an emotional piece. Felt every bit aware of what was transpiring in the movements.

Excellent. This is a heavy weight recording. The listener can hear all of the lines played, and the writing is excellent.

very nice. El Sharif

This is one of the best recordings of Shostakovich No. 8. Recorded live in 1982, quality is very good, with minimal sounds from the audience. Not to be confused with the 1960 recording, which another customer apparently is referring to in his poorly written and baseless one-star review.

Muy pocos han dirigido Shostakovich como Mravinsky y, en particular, su octava sinfonía.Existen diversas versiones de la 8ª dirigida por Mravinsky con "su" orquesta de Leningrado, y a su vez algunas versiones han sido editadas por varios sellos.Existen grabaciones en Melodiya, Philips, Regis, esta de alto y BBC. Hasta donde sé, las de Phillips, Regis y la que nos ocupa son la misma grabación, que se corresponde con un concierto en Leningrado en 1982 (evite la versión de Phillips, aunque está descatalogada).Esta es, sin una de las mejores grabaciones de esta obra. Muy recomendable.Por cierto, me refiero a la sinfonía nº 8 (la que aparece en la imagen), porque el "título" de amazon hacer referencia a la sinfonía nº 7, lo que es incoherente.

CD historique

The recording is rough - you probably need a newer performance as well as this - but if you love the music this is a must - strap yourself into your chair!

Very good there is a lot of feeling in it

Magnifique enregistrement par un immense chef!