Shostakovich: Symphony No.8

Litton Dallas Symphony (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 14, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Delos Records
• ASIN: B00000070R
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,259 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Peformance with Unbelievable Engineering, March 18, 2002

By 

Doc Sarvis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphony No.8 (Audio CD)

Being relatively new to the Eighth Symphony (but a longtime fan of Shostakovich), I haven't heard enough versions of this piece to know how this one compares in terms of performance; to my ears it is a wonderful, frightening, passionate reading.

I purchased it because of its recommendation from audio publications and equipment manufacturers. In that department, my expectations were clearly exceeded. What an incredible recording! Whoever engineered this production needs to be commended...the sound, dynamics, and detils are nothing short of amazing.

Thus, I recommended as a demonstration piece for your stereo system, and I leave it to others to comment on the performance itself.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Sound, So-so Performance, July 24, 2002

By 

Timothy Dougal (Madison, Wi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shostakovich: Symphony No.8 (Audio CD)

As another reviewer points out, this Shostakovich Symphony #8 does sound great. Unfortunately, the performance doesn't meet the same high standard. Andrew Litton's interpretation IS solid, but he consistently fails to build any real tension to lead up to the tremendous climaxes, and no sense of resolution follows. Perhaps more importantly, the musical motifs that hold this hour-long piece together are by no means obvious, and the listener may wonder just WHY the notes say this is one of the greatest symphonies of the 20th century, since it frequently seems to be meandering in this CD. But the playing, like the sound is clean, and if you don't mind a lack of genuine musical drama in a war symphony, you can use it to test out your system!