Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 65 (Live)

Album review

The death of Bernard Haitink in 2021 has hardly slowed the flow of releases in which he is featured, and their generally impressive quality is a testimony to what has been lost with his passing. Haitink first conducted the Bavarian Radio Symphony in 1958, and by the time this live recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8 in C minor, Op. 65, was made at Munich's Philharmonie im Gasteig in 2006, the orchestra had evolved into a supple instrument that could follow his every move. The string section is luminous, the winds, individual voices against a storm of gathering chaos, beautifully sculpted. One might not pick the straightforward Haitink as a Shostakovich (or, if one prefers, Schostakowitsch) interpreter, but here, his straightforwardness and steely control over the long musical line serve the work well. The Eighth is perhaps the most Mahlerian of Shostakovich's symphonies (with the possible exception of the sardonic Symphony No. 15 in A minor, Op. 141), and its multiple meanings will take care of themselves if a strong overall framework is provided. That happens here; the symphony's hour-plus length seems almost too short. Most of the great recordings of this work are Russian, but listeners owe it to themselves to hear this splendid version, with impressive live sound from Bavarian Radio's engineers.

© James Manheim /TiVo