The last thing you want to hear in Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony is a weak string section; but that’s exactly what you get in Vakhtang Jordania’s new recording with the Russian Federal Orchestra. The undernourished strings make what should be an arrestingly dramatic first-movement opening sound mushy and tentative. Mushy precisely describes the cellos’ and basses’ articulation at the start, which drains all the tension from the music. But the violins’ answer isn’t much better, devoid as it is of accentuation.
This pattern repeats in the dull-edged scherzo and in the normally stark and angry third movement, which here sounds as if the strings are struggling to maintain Shostakovich’s rapid, staccato pace (even though Jordania’s tempo isn’t very fast). The finale suffers more due to the violins’ vague idea of intonation. The other instrumental sections fare better: woodwinds are for the most part reliably colorful, while the brass blare in true Russian style. Percussion is marred by a “trash-can-lid” tam-tam that spoils the third-movement climax.
The Festive Overture proceeds well enough (notwithstanding the barely audible violin runs in the beginning), but it’s of little importance after such a non-compelling symphony performance. The distant, low-level recording only reinforces this impression. You can do far better than this.
