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Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8.(Sound recording review)
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8. Valery Gergiev, Kirov Orchestra, St. Petersburg. Philips 446 062-2.
What is clear is that if you already own Previn's 1973 EMI recording of the Shostakovich Eighth, you probably don't need any others. It is still among the best performances and best recordings available. If you don't have it or can't get it, this one by Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra (and several other alternatives) may fit the bill. What is unclear is why Philips re-released this 1995 Gergiev recording at full price after releasing it originally in 1996.
The Symphony No. 8 premiered in 1943 and is considered Shostakovich's great war epic. However, Shostakovich considered the work to represent not only World War II but the Soviet Union itself, which may explain why the Soviet authorities immediately banned it. The Symphony's unrelentingly pessimistic tone and turbulent harmonies led the government to denounce it as decadent and degenerate, unfit for the masses, and it was many years before the work got its proper recognition. Well, it certainly wasn't Tchaikovsky.
Any recording of the Eighth must not only evoke the massive emotional turmoil of war, but it must ...
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