André Previn’s 1973 recording of Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony is no match for Rostropovich’s uncompromisingly brutal 1992 version from Washington, available at budget price on Teldec Ultima coupled with the Fourth Symphony. At the start, Previn’s LSO cellos and basses haven’t the fearsome bite of their Washington National Symphony rivals, and indeed, few other symphonic openings portend so graphically how the ensuing interpretation will unfold. So when the violins enter with their first theme, Previn is less harrowingly intense alongside the despairing resignation of Rostropovich, who instantly secures the right glacial, disembodied tone quality. Nor does Previn equal Rostropovich’s manic ruthlessness in the outer sections of the second scherzo, where the violas’ ostinato theme seems almost polite beside the brittle rawness of the Washington version, and where the woodwinds shriek out far more luridly in their horrific interjections.
Previn’s LSO first trumpet is fine in his crazy gallop midway through, but Rostropovich gets the required febrile vulgarity of timbre from his soloist, and the reprise brings the juggernaut-like machinations of full brass into play with shocking force. Previn’s sensibly judged Largo simply follows the composer’s directions in the score. Rostropovich stretches out rhythms to almost unbearable limits here, but that’s his only miscalculation. Both conductors turn in moving renditions of the finale, but the Eighth rarely falters here, and Rostropovich’s highly personal manner is more movingly cathartic. Previn’s softer-grained recording effectively contains the huge climaxes of the piece, but ultimately the Rostropovich/Washington account is the more telling and truthful realization.
