Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra/David Afkham
Shostakovich Symphony No 10
(Orfeo)
First things first. The Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra is among the most revered of young orchestras. They are fantastic players, as those who heard them in the days when they visited the Edinburgh International Festival will remember. Second, young German conductor David Afkham is clearly a star in the making: he is already working with the London Symphony Orchestra and at Bayreuth. Third, Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony is one of the composer’s most powerful conceptions, whether you think it’s abstract or anti-Stalinist. So, with all of these factors, why is this disc, recorded live at the Salzburg Festival, so deeply disappointing? The playing is fine, if a bit slick, and Afkham clearly knows his way around the piece. The answer is straightforward: it’s the recording itself. It is totally bland. Nothing comes off the page, which, in one of the most volcanic symphonies in the book, is just appalling. Listen to Petrenko or Jarvi’s recordings to see what I mean.
Michael Tumelty
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