BaL 9.11.13 Shostakovitch Symphony no. 8

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am Building a Library
Stephen Johnson surveys recordings of Shostakovich's 8th Symphony and makes a personal recommendation.

Available versions:

RPO, Vladimir Ashkenazy
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Barshai
Russian National Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Adelaide SO, Nicholas Braithwaite
WDR Symphony Orchestra Koln, Semyon Bychkov
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano G. Verdi, Oleg Verdi, Oleg Caetoni
LSO, Christopher Cox (download)
Helsinki PO, James DePriest
Kirov Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
Marlinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Saarbracken Radio SO, Gunther Herbig
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi
Gurzenish Orchestra, Cologne, Dimitri Kitajenko
Moscow PO, Kirill Kondrashin
Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Roman Kofman
Atlanta SO, Yoel Levi
Dallas SO, Andrew Litton
Leningrad PO, Yevgeny Mravinsky (2 versions)
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (Blu-ray/DVD)
RLPO, Valisy Petrenko
LSO, Andre Previn
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski
NSO, Mstislav Rostropovitch
LSO, Mstislav Rostropovitch
LPO, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Berlin SO, Kurt Sanderling
LSO, Maxim Shostakovich
Prague SO, Maxim Shostakovich
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ladislav Slovak
LSO, Evgeny Svetlanov
Netherlands Radio PO, Mark Wiggleworth

[amateur51]

Very pleased to see the Herbig/Saarbrucken SO performance in the list

[Bryn]

My introduction to the work was an MK l.p. with Alexander Gauk as conductor. I think it is available currently on CD.

[Barbirollians]

Previn out of the catalogue then ?

[slarty]

Previn out of the catalogue then ?

Ditto that barbs.

[AjAjAjH]

Along with the Leningrad (No.7) the greatest symphonies of WW2. (IMHO) It moves me very deeply.

[Petrushka]

Previn out of the catalogue then ?

My introduction to the work (in 1974) and still available as far as I can see. There is a later LSO/Previn on DG that didn't receive the kind of rave reviews given to the earlier EMI but I've not heard that. When the 1973 EMI came out it was, I think, the first Western recording of a work not taken terribly seriously. How attitudes have changed!

The EMI version remains an excellent choice and a serious contender. I tend towards Haitink and the Concertgebouw these days but the recent issue on the LPO label of Rozhdestvensky and the LPO in a 1983 live performance (at which I was present) is a real humdinger. I haven't yet heard the latest Gergiev disc and wonder how it stacks up against stiff competition.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Previn out of the catalogue then ?

Sorry. Duly edited.

[Barbirollians]

I think the earlier EMI recording is deleted but the DG one is still available albeit in a large boxed set.

[LaurieWatt]

9.30am Building a Library
Stephen Johnson surveys recordings of Shostakovich's 8th Symphony and makes a personal recommendation.

Available versions:

RPO, Vladimir Ashkenazy
WDR Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Barshai
Russian National Orchestra, Paavo Berglund
Adelaide SO, Nicholas Braithwaite
WDR Symphony Orchestra Koln, Semyon Bychkov
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano G. Verdi, Oleg Verdi, Oleg Caetoni
LSO, Christopher Cox (download)
Helsinki PO, James DePriest
Kirov Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
Marlinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Saarbracken Radio SO, Gunther Herbig
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi
Gurzenish Orchestra, Cologne, Dimitri Kitajenko
Moscow PO, Kirill Kondrashin
Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Roman Kofman
Atlanta SO, Yoel Levi
Dallas SO, Andrew Litton
Leningrad PO, Yevgeny Mravinsky (2 versions)
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Andris Nelsons (Blu-ray/DVD)
RLPO, Valisy Petrenko
LSO, Andre Previn
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Artur Rodzinski
NSO, Mstislav Rostropovitch
LSO, Mstislav Rostropovitch
LPO, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Berlin SO, Kurt Sanderling
LSO, Maxim Shostakovich
Prague SO, Maxim Shostakovich
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ladislav Slovak
LSO, Evgeny Svetlanov
Netherlands Radio PO, Mark Wiggleworth

EA you have missed off Rudolf Barshai with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which is now available on CFP, available on Amazon. In my view it is far superior to his later recording with the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

[BBMmk2]

I have Barshai, Jansons Previn nand #Gergiev. I also want the Haitink too!! Jansons not on the list?

[Barbirollians]

EA you have missed off Rudolf Barshai with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which is now available on CFP, available on Amazon. In my view it is far superior to his later recording with the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

Deleted I am afraid like many of those CfP reissues .

[LaurieWatt]

Deleted I am afraid like many of those CfP reissues .

It is still available new on Amazon! - and when did deletion ever stop BAL considering a fine recording?

[Sir Velo]

It is still available new on Amazon! - and when did deletion ever stop BAL considering a fine recording?

Quite often I'm afraid. In fact, I've known recordings be excluded from consideration which can be found available on Amazon. Frequently, we are told that items are available only as downloads or in boxed sets when they can easily be found (sometimes admittedly as imports only) on the web.

[Hornspieler]

EA you have missed off Rudolf Barshai with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which is now available on CFP, available on Amazon. In my view it is far superior to his later recording with the WDR Symphony Orchestra.

It was Silvestri who introduced this symphony to the Bournemouth players in 1965 and I have a recording of our live broadcast.

Still under Silvestri's influence when Barshai was at the helm, it would not surprise me if this reading sounds a little more than familiar.

HS