David Oistrakh Quartet - Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 at Glafsfjorden Festival

David Oistrakh Quartet plays Shostakovich String quartet No. 8 op. 110 at Glafsfjorden Festival 25 January 2019 at The Great Hall of Ingesund School of Music in Arvika.

[cadd]

A lot of people seem to be critical of their tempo in the second movement but I want to offer a counterargument. Shostakovich marked the second movement "Allegro molto" which roughly corresponds to 130-155 bpm according to my research. If you pull out a metronome it seems that these guys are taking it at around 140-145 bpm which is not even the top end of that range. Sure this is one of the fastest interpretations of the second mvmt I've heard but there's a good chance this is what Shosty envisioned. It sounds tormented and aggressive which is definitely the point. And since they clearly have the chops to take it that fast, why the hell not?

[cubycube]

I like how they’re all headbanging to the 2nd movement while they’re playing lol

[gavinpalmer]

Crazy to think that just four people can make all that sound. Amazing.

[MKimberViola]

An admittedly nerdy observation: Just after 20:19, the second violinist plays C instead of B flat, moving in parallel with the first violin's final statement of the DSCH motif (the notes D, E flat, C, B, derived from the German spelling of the composer's initials), instead of descending chromatically (and mournfully) with the (typically mournful) viola's chromatic descent. As a violist who has performed this quartet, I've always relished this moment of empathy with the second violin and was stunned when I heard it altered. Perhaps this was just a "slip of the finger"; in a video of a performance they gave later that year, the second violinist plays the expected B flat (at 20 : 22). Either way, their performances of this work are absolutely the most impressive I have ever heard. Bravo!!

[danieldubei]

I absolutely LOVE that tempo for the second movement. Release those emotions! I can't imagine just how pent up Shostakovich must have felt all those years on the edge of a razor blade with Stalin and the communist party.

However, they need to have the melody of the third movement much quieter. It works as an astounding contrast to the second movement if that first melody in the third is super quiet.

[soroep]

I was sweating BULLETS listening to the second movement. That was intense, in an extraordinary way. Their performance is also one of the most aggressive ones I've seen. Absolutely love their interpretation of this piece!

[luismg]

These guys are top notch! Such a tempo for the 2nd movement, and never lost control. It also makes the following movements shine because of the stark contrast.

[vincentregolo]

Who needs electric guitars when you have a shostakovitch

[IrinaIdeas]

Great tempo, vitality is there, the intensity is actually pronounced and chaotic nature of the era that Shostakovich was describing in my opinion in this performance truly captured

[littlewishy]

0:15 I
5:01 II
7:30 III
11:50 IV
17:07 V

[dariazaldrizoti]

bruh i felt like a fly being smacked onto the wall with a flip flop at 5:00 and i LOVED it

[camdenwentz]

11:18 Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 theme!

[green.]

5:55 as a violist i love this part and the amount of emotion that the violist is putting into this piece is absolutely amazing

[jeremystarr]

Unreal…. That's how this piece is REALLY supposed to be played. Absolutely harrowing....

[lizz]

the tempo is absolutely amazing beautiful

also the violist's projection is impressive, esp at the end of the the second movement

[ianson]

Serious guys playing serious music. Fantastic. Disagree about the fast parts being too fast, it's supposed to be manic. Also disagree about the acoustics. Those "knocks at the door" were thunderous; the NKVD would have broken in easily with those. OTOH, I'm listening with headphones, maybe that helps the acoustic. Thank you, Glafsfjordens, for posting this outstanding performance.

[NotLegato]

the fastest 2nd movement i've ever heard. the acoustics make for a great sound on the slower movements especially.

[danibosnjak]

Fantastic playing! I have worked with Dimitri Kitajenko who was living and working with Schostakovitch. He told me that maestro always you can do what you want but never touch my tempos .this was played so perfectly that I think he would appreciate this tempos .even knocking on the door was little bit fast like whole performance but I have to say that it’s fascinating.bravo

[JoshuaAalampour]

This is the best rendition I’ve ever heard of Shosty’s 8th. bravo!

[rowanus]

all these musicians are masters in their instrument and know exactly how to breathe together in an ensemble and how to listen to each other properly. I have seen renditions of this with mediocre firsts violin, secoonds, violists and cellists but here every player was on point. Best performance I have heard! Absolutely incredible tempo for the second movement I was shocked but I absolutely loved it . I hear musicians fudging up that bit at a lot slower tempo it was incredibly impressive the skill level here. I swear your hearts must;ve been racing absolutely incredible! The body language and movement together as a string quartet was great. Also you rung out those tension-filled moments and you all knew the corners of the piece and exactly how the piece should move on I have a feeling they have rehearsed together for a long time. Amazing!! The sound ratios were impeccable throughout the piece. I never heard one instrument overpowering the rest of the ensemble and I always heard each sound being valued equally even if one had the melody it was a beautiful mix of sound. Another beautiful cello solo and