Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 1-6; Orchestral Works (Limited Edition) [Import]

Track Listings

1. Symphony No 1 In G Minor

2. Symphony No 2 In C Minor

3. Symphony No 3 In D Major

4. Symphony No 4 In F Minor

5. Symphony No 5 In E Minor

6. Symphony No 6 In B Minor

Tracks:

Symphony No 1 In G Minor
Symphony No 2 In C Minor
Symphony No 3 In D Major
Symphony No 4 In F Minor
Symphony No 5 In E Minor
Symphony No 6 In B Minor

Customer Reviews:

Is Abbado better or worse in Tchaikovsky than his reputation?.......2007-02-17

Claudio Abbado spent considerable time with the CSO in the 1980s but rarely returned (so far as I know) after he was appointed as Karajan's successor in Berlin. His complete Tchaikovsky cycle was a flagship enterprise for Sony, and yet the results divide listeners, some of whom categorically dismiss Abbado's interpretations as boring and fussy, lacking in Slavic passion. I had casually bought into that judgment but decided recently to listen to the whole cycle afresh, leading to the following, sometimes surprising conclusions:

Sym. #1: We start off on a high point. This work, subtitled 'Winter Dreams,' is the most immature of the symphonies, relying on much repetition in place of solid sonata development, and at times it's hard to distinguish why this is a symphony and not part of a ballet suite. However, the melodies are gorgeous, and a conductor with real conviction can make the music come across. Abbado spins out the balletic first movement with energy and verve--it makes the often recommended Tilson Thomas version from Boston (on DG) seem overly refined. The lyrical second movement evokes real tenderness, the Scherzo (another balletic movement) skips along lightly but could use more rhythmic emphasis, and the finale, after an Andante lugubre introduction that could be darker, sweeps convincingly into the grand allegro, which has lots of punch and vitality. In all, an excellent performance. After you count in the fine sonics and the gorgeous playing of the Chicago Sym., Abbado outshines all his Western competition, including Karajan, Mehta, and Bernstein in their complete sets.

Sym. #2: Outstandings recordings of the First Sym. are thin on the ground, but not of the 'Little Russian,' which boasts a classic from Giulini (EMI) and a committed reading from Bernstein (Sony). Abbado has a great advantage in outstanding solo parts played with style and commitment by the Chicagoans--you won't hear better from Karajan's Berliners. Rather than aiming for folk-style earthiness, Abbado takes the work to be grander, more symphonically European. In that vein the first movement is convincing and thrilling. But the march that follows is reticent and fussy. The performance is back in form with an energetic, propulsive Scherzo, a total success. The finale is imposingly grand at the outset, rich with brass sonorities, and although the main allegro section sounds a bit fussed over, it has requisite vigor and enthusiasm. In sum, another success, much better played and recorded than esteemed rivals like Dorati on Mercury and Markevitch on Philips.

Sym. #3: The "Polish" Sym. is the problem child, a score so drawn out and balletic (Balanchine based his full-length "Jewels" on it) that few conductors can hold it together symphonically. It doesn't help matters that so much of the music hovers around Andante instead of a vigorous Allegro, or that the harmonies are often ambiguous. Abbado takes the shadowy first movement as a processional, delicately nuanced in the phrasing but moving along. It works well, but the next movement "Alla Tedesca" sounds exactly the same; he hasn't found any contrast in tempo or mood. The third movement, which is yet another shadowy andante, sounds inward and melancholy. By now the wandering nature of the piece has won out; attention begins to wander, to. Abbado doesn't find enough earthiness in the mercurial Scherzo to salvage matters, so we might as well give in and enjoy this as ballet. Tchaikovsky wants the finale to be played "with fire," but Abbado remains at low temperature, smooth and flowing. I've been highly critical here, so let it be said that none of Abbado's Western rivals do any better. Call this attempt to interpret a sprawling ballet-symphony a middling success, with reservations.

Sym. #4: The last three symphonies are meat for every great conductor, needless to say, so Abbado had little chance of rising to the very summit. He competes with himself, in fact, given that his Decca recording of the Fourth with the Vienna Phil. ranks among his best recordings from the Seventies. A good or even very good reading won't do, and that's about all that Abbado gives us. The CSO brass suddenly begin to snarl a bit, a la Solti, and softer passages get fussed over. The first movement fails to cohere convincingly, and one wonders exactly where the interpretation is going. Is this just big-band international Tchaikovsky? On the whole, yes. The oboe solo in the Andante flows by without much individuality or expression, and you realize that this music doesn't mean much to anyone here. The Scherzo is virtuosic without being thrilling. The finale is heavy and not fast enough to raise one's blood, immediately turning tepid in the lyrical second subject. All in all, not an inspired reading. In fact, a definite miss unless you simply must hear the CSO run thorugh its paces.

Sym. #5: Although much loved, the Fifth suffers from repeating the same motive in the first and last movements, as well as repetitive development sections that hammer simple rhythmic patterns over and over. To really succeed, an interpretation must be intense, dramatic, and played with edge of the seat intensity (in a word, the way Mravinsky does it). Abbado starts out with a full, broad statement that isn't premonitory enough (it doesn't promise great things to come), but no one can doubt how detailed and beautiful the playing is. There's a lot to be said for avoiding banality in this music or hollow grandiosity. Add in the outstanding Chicago playing (thankfully less blaring in the brass), and the first movement turns into a real success. Likewise the Andante, which begins with ravishing cellos and a natural, unforced solo horn. Here Abbado moves things along rather quickly, perhaps too much so for the music to tell as expressively as it might. But again, no sentimentality allowed. The waltz Scherzo is weaker in its characterization, coming off as well played but faceless. Up to this point, I've been feeling that Abbado's reading deserves respet, which is confirmed by a sober but full-voiced finale, the place where sentimentality and false heroics lay real traps. In all, I like this Fifth and rate it higher than the Fourth. Those who prefer blood-and-thunder won't agree. This is a Fifth for those who usually avoid the work.

Sym. #6: It's as difficult to produce a truly memorable 'Pathetique' as it is to produce a truly memorable Beethoven Fifth, and yet neither work ever misfires under a good conductor. So the challenge is greatness, pure and simple. Abbado had looming over his head Reiner's acclaimed Sixth with the same CSO in Living Stereo on RCA, a classic. Let's note right off that the playing and recording here are up to Reiner's standards. Reiner was a cool customer, perhaps the greatest technicin of his day. Abbado is cool, too, but without the intensity of a master craftsman. His 'Pathetique' is too loose-limbed at the beginning; one soon realizes that as with the Fourth, he has no pressing thing to say in this music. One episode follows another beautifully, if at times cautiously (E.g., a tepid second subject in the opening movement that needs to soar). The succeeding movements don't change that impression, even though everyone concerned tries to thrill us in the Scherzo, and do. Tchaikovksy's last symphony rises and falls on its tragic finale--I want a wrenching catharsis--but Abbado has decided that pathos is the dominant feeling. He's not alone in that, so if you want less than catharsis, here is a well-played finale that I find unmemorable. In all, I'd place Abbado's Sixth a little higher than the Fourth but well shy of the Fifth.

Overall judgement: I was surprised, given its lackluster reputation, that this is often a spectacular set, full of exciting playing. Abbado has no riveting conception in the last three symphonies, and in fact rises to his best in the First and Second. For overall conviction, I'd buy the Temirkanov set on RCA, but Abbado is more convincing to me than Karajan, and better in the early works than Bernstein. Experienced collectors will already have multiple favorites among the individual suymphonies and won't want a complete set. For them, Abbado's "Winter Dreams" is the overlooked gem.

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1. Symphony No 1 In G Minor
2. Symphony No 2 In C Minor
3. Symphony No 3 In D Major
4. Symphony No 4 In F Minor
5. Symphony No 5 In E Minor
6. Symphony No 6 In B Minor