# SS 13.06.15 - Shostakovich #8



## realdealblues

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

Welcome to another weekend of symphonic listening! 
*
*For your listening pleasure this weekend:

*Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975)*

Symphony #8 in C minor, Op. 65

1. Adagio - Allegro non troppo
2. Allegretto
3. Allegro non troppo
4. Largo
5. Allegretto

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy


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## realdealblues

I'm posting this one a little early as I will be out of town tomorrow.

Looking forward to hearing this Shostakovich work again. I'll be listening to:

View attachment 70974


Rudolf Barshai/WDR Symphony Orchestra


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## Triplets

I've got the Barshai as an MP3 download of the complete set of 15, so I will go with that as well. My favorite is Kitaenko/cologne 
On SACD


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## ptr

My second most favourite Shostakovich Symphony, have about 30 versions.. Will be a difficult choice... 










Russian National Orchestra u. Paavo Berglund (Pentatone)

Haven't listened to Berglund conducting Pletnev's orchestra for a long time, will be fun to reacquaint myself with this disc!

/ptr


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## Mahlerian

One of my preferred Shostakovich symphonies. I'm surprised it's so far down the list...and the Fourth is farther still!


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## GreenMamba

I'm going with Mravinsky/Leningrad. Supposedly some releases of this recording were sped up and slightly sharp, but I believe this is a correct one.


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## D Smith

Rudolf Barshai/WDR Symphony Orchestra here for me as well.


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## AClockworkOrange

realdealblues said:


> I'm posting this one a little early as I will be out of town tomorrow.
> 
> Looking forward to hearing this Shostakovich work again. I'll be listening to:
> 
> View attachment 70974
> 
> 
> Rudolf Barshai/WDR Symphony Orchestra


I think I'll join you and listen to the Barshai recording too


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## Haydn man

Mahlerian said:


> One of my preferred Shostakovich symphonies. I'm surprised it's so far down the list...and the Fourth is farther still!


I shall go with this version via Spotify


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## Skilmarilion

Some nice timing here -- I'd revisited the 10th quite recently, and felt like doing the same with the 8th.

It's Gergiev for me.









Side issue: whenever a DSCH work pops up in this thing, it reminds me that the 15th didn't make the cut. I just don't get it!


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## elgar's ghost

GreenMamba said:


> I'm going with Mravinsky/Leningrad. Supposedly some releases of this recording were sped up and slightly sharp, but I believe this is a correct one.
> 
> View attachment 70984


I'm going with this, and I'll also take in Rozhdestvensky on Olympia (although this says Melodiya the recording and sleeve are the same):


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## shadowdancer

GreenMamba said:


> I'm going with Mravinsky/Leningrad. Supposedly some releases of this recording were sped up and slightly sharp, but I believe this is a correct one.
> View attachment 70984


One of my favorites as well. The record mentioned by GreenMamba is my choice.


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## Vaneyes

*Shostakovich*: Symphony 8, w. ACO/Haitink (rec.1982). Recording Engineer: Colin Moorfoot.

Maybe the best from Haitink's heralded cycle with ACO and LPO. :tiphat:


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## EDaddy

Barshai is the only version I currently own so... Barshai it is!


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## techniquest

> Side issue: whenever a DSCH work pops up in this thing, it reminds me that the 15th didn't make the cut. I just don't get it!


I don't get it either, but I sometimes get the feeling that Shostakovich isn't seen as a very worthy composer. Anyhow, I'm going to go with a couple of recordings not yet mentioned:

Previn / LSO / DG








Herbig / Saarbruken / Berlin Classics


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## Mika

Petrenko & Liverpool


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## Eramirez156

First up
*Artur Rodzinsky
New York Philharmonic*









Live recording
15 October1944

_As Disc 538_


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## Triplets

ptr said:


> My second most favourite Shostakovich Symphony, have about 30 versions.. Will be a difficult choice...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Russian National Orchestra u. Paavo Berglund (Pentatone)
> 
> Haven't listened to Berglund conducting Pletnev's orchestra for a long time, will be fun to reacquaint myself with this disc!
> 
> /ptr


I used to have an lp of Berglund conducting this, I can't remember the Orchestra, it may have been Bournemouth, but I remember it was really good.


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## brotagonist

I'll give my Haitink/Concertgebouw album a rest and go with:

Barshai/WDR Köln


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## Proms Fanatic

Time to join in my first ever SS session! This will also be the first time I've ever listened to this work so I'm looking forward to it!


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## EDaddy

This is the version I am listening to today.

Forgot how deeply intense and tragic this symphony is. Wow. Going to need a shower to wash it off when it's done. One can only imagine what it must have been like to be a famous artist, under constant scrutiny by Stalin and his cronies in 1943 Soviet Russia. That had to have been stressful beyond comprehension, especially during the times he personally came under attack for his music. Rest in peace Dmitri. You earned it!

I'm about 24 minutes into the opening Adagio. Haunting.


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## Proms Fanatic

EDaddy said:


> View attachment 71061
> 
> 
> I'm about 24 minutes into the opening Adagio. Haunting.


Wikipedia says the first movement should take about 30 mins, the version I'm listening to lasts only 23 minutes. It doesn't seem rushed but then again I've not heard any other versions.

The second movement is meant to be a march with "elements of a scherzo". That's a pretty dark scherzo!


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## techniquest

Proms Fanatic said:


> Wikipedia says the first movement should take about 30 mins, the version I'm listening to lasts only 23 minutes. It doesn't seem rushed but then again I've not heard any other versions.
> 
> The second movement is meant to be a march with "elements of a scherzo". That's a pretty dark scherzo!


The Previn recording that I listened to this morning had a first movement of 27:47. The Herbig recording that I'm listening to now is a minute and a half shorter, however his 2nd movement is almost half a minute longer. The Previn version does sound more drawn out overall, but oddly not in the first movement.


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## EDaddy

Proms Fanatic said:


> Wikipedia says the first movement should take about 30 mins, the version I'm listening to lasts only 23 minutes. It doesn't seem rushed but then again I've not heard any other versions.
> 
> The second movement is meant to be a march with "elements of a scherzo". That's a pretty dark scherzo!


The Bershai version clocks in at around 27:22. I was reaching for the razor blade well before that. This whole symphony is super depressing, except for a few minutes in the last movement where it technically resolves to a major key. But even in it's minor/major resolve, DS still manages to make it sound amazingly dreary and unconvincing, almost like a forced smile at gun point. This definitely isn't your typical major-triumph-after-a-minor-tragedy kind of piece.

Not exactly a mood I typically gravitate toward to compliment an otherwise sunny Saturday morning. Hopefully the next SSL choice will have at least a hint of a sunny disposition.


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## techniquest

EDaddy said:


> ...This whole symphony is super depressing, except for a few minutes in the last movement where it technically resolves to a major key. But even in it's minor/major resolve, DS still manages to make it sound amazingly dreary and unconvincing, *almost like a forced smile at gun point*...


I suspect that's very much how things were in Russia during 1943 when he wrote the symphony.


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## Proms Fanatic

I agree with EDaddy in the sense that this work doesn't provide much hope! It seems like something might erupt at the beginning of the final movement but that is quickly dampened down.

I must admit that I didn't really see the purpose of the fourth movement. Was it just there to emphasise how "routine" the terrible bad conditions were at the time?


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## techniquest

This link provides a fascinating insight into the 8th symphony - well worth a read: 
http://www.markwigglesworth.com/notes/marks-notes-on-shostakovich-symphony-no-8/


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## D Smith

I have to say I have no clue why this work is so far down on the TC Symphony list. To me, it's a masterpiece, though also one of the most bleak and angry of all symphonies that I have heard. Not surprising given what Russia had gone though under Stalin and WWII when this was written. But it's a nice summer's day here so I'm putting on some Haydn now!


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## EDaddy

techniquest said:


> This link provides a fascinating insight into the 8th symphony - well worth a read:
> http://www.markwigglesworth.com/notes/marks-notes-on-shostakovich-symphony-no-8/


Wow. Great article, techniquest. Thanks for sharing that! Shostakovitch describing the 7th and 8th as being his requiems to his fellow countrymen and those he loved who suffered and died during the war certainly puts the absolute heart-wrenching anguish one hears and feels in the 8th into perspective.


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## Eramirez156

Today's _*DSCH Symphony no.8
*_








_*Paavo Berglund
Russian National Orchestra*_

Already this version appears slower than the _*Rodzinsky*_ I played yesterday. Looking at the booklet the 5th mvt. clock in at 15:33 for the *Berglund* and 12:50 for the _*Rodzinsky*_.


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## phlrdfd

I haven't heard all that many versions, but I love the Kondrashin Moscow Philharmonic recording.









This is up there with any Shostakovich symphony for me and may be my favorite. I only wish it were performed more often in these parts. In fact, I can't recall the Philadelphia Orchestra performing it during the decades I've been going to their concerts, and they have been closely associated with Shostakovich's music for many years. I did catch it once in New York by Gergiev and the Mariinsky. (I've been more fortunate with the 7th, which I also love. I have seen the Philadelphia perform it a couple times over the yearsi; and a couple more times with the Concertgebouw and Cleveland Orchestra.)


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## MrTortoise

First time with this work, I'm streaming Previn/London via google play.


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## Skilmarilion

I'm not sure that I can think of anything else that kicks a$$ quite like the third movement of this symphony.


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## TurnaboutVox

I went with the recording I must've had for 30 years, but had forgotten I possessed...

It's so long since I heard it that none of this was remotely familiar. Oh well, it's quite nice to rediscover a forgotten work in your CD collection once in a while!

*Shostakovich - Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65*
Leningrad PO, Mravinsky [Philips, 1982]


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## ptr

I also scheduled a second version of this symphony, mostly of nostalgic reasons as I was present in the Concert Hall (Berwaldhallen in Stockholm) when it was recorded and broadcast by Sveriges Radio 21 October 1994, one of my top ten Concert Hall experiences!









Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester u. Kurt Sanderling (Weitblick)

Its very interesting that re-hearing the recorded version of a concert one heard more then 20 years ago can reawake similar emotions that was felt during the concert!

/ptr


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## ptr

TurnaboutVox said:


> I went with the recording I must've had for 30 years, but had forgotten I possessed...
> 
> It's so long since I heard it that none of this was remotely familiar. Oh well, it's quite nice to rediscover a forgotten work in your CD collection once in a while!
> 
> *Shostakovich - Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65*
> 
> Leningrad PO, Mravinsky [Philips, 1982]


This issue had the tape running at slightly to fast during transcript, I believe that later releases like the one on Regis had the tempo "corrected" digitally! (Was written about extensively in the Journal devoted to this composer!)


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## Bix

Mahlerian said:


> One of my preferred Shostakovich symphonies. I'm surprised it's so far down the list...and the Fourth is farther still!


This is the one I will go for - I have the whole RLPO Petrenko Cycle. Have heard this one live in Liverpool - I do love the RLPO....... and Petrenko.


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## Brouken Air

There are quite a lot of very good 8th:
Haitink + Concertgebouw
Svetlanov + LSO
Mravinsky + Leningrad
Kondrashin on Melodya + Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Previn + LSO
Rudolf Barshai + WDR Sinfonieorchester
Petrenko + Bournemouth

My preferate versions being Haitink & Svetlanov (I don't like the Mravinsky sonics).

:tiphat:


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