Alexander Rahbari draws authoritative and characterful playing from his orchestra (not the same group as heard on three recent undistinguished RCA discs of Shostakovich film scores), and the acoustic, despite placing the first violins and the horn section at a slight disadvantage, is clear and lively.
In interpretative matters too the new recording can hold its head high. Problems of pacing are particularly acute in the Fifth Symphony; indeed, few works can have been so often recorded (some 20 versions in the current Classical Catalogue) and yet have yielded so few satisfying accounts. Rahbari hits the happy medium more often than most. Only a rather stiff slow movement lets the performance down, and even here the depth of feeling is considerable. There are some delicious details of characterization on the way too, and I certainly won't forget the wonderful bellyaching Belgian double bassoon in a hurry (track 2, from 3'32'').
The Ninth Symphony is rather less successful—the third movement scherzo lacks a degree or two of panache, there is some uncomfortable woodwind intonation in the fourth movement and the finale hangs fire in the later stages. For this reason I would not recommend the disc in preference to Rozhdestvensky on mid-price Olympia, unless recording quality and a bargain price-tag are overriding considerations. I would, however, definitely choose it above Bernstein on CBS and Levi on Telarc.'