A Legendary Performance
Mravinsky is the prime exemplar of a faster performance tradition of Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony, presumably countenanced by the composer himself. This is in direct contrast to modern interpretations advocated by the Russian conductors Mstislav Rostropovich, Dmitri Kitayenko and Rudolf Barshai, as well as André Previn. But there is more to a performance than tempo. Mravinsky generates a nearly manic intensity in the third movement that no one has matched, and, despite his generally fast tempos, effectively communicates the power and suffering inherent in Shostakovich's anti-war masterpiece. As a pure performance this rates five stars, but the mediocre sound and atrocious audience noise make it a four star recording which should nevertheless be in the collection of anyone seriously interested in the music of Shostakovich. Arthur B. Lintgen