Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony played an important role in the war propaganda of the Allies during the Second World War. And although this 'Leningrad symphony' is still doing well as a spectacle, nowadays there is no longer a serious Shostakovich expert who counts the symphony among Shostakovich's best works. And rightly so, because with the concentration of his Eighth Symphony, Shostakovich
… penetrated even deeper into the heart of the darkness. Nobody escapes the impersonal power of the second scherzo, in which the comical circus music with trumpet only underlines the banality of evil. Only towards the end of the finale there is a bit of hope, but this hope does sound very pale compared to the apotheosis of the symphonic tradition of Beethoven, Bruckner and Mahler has produced. The Gürzenich-Orchester Köln is collaborating with conductor Dmitry Kitajenko on the integral recording of all 15 Shostakovich Symphonies. Their charged performance of the Eighth Symphony (a SACD on the Capricci label) is a promising start to this cycle. (HJ)more
