Pyotr Il039yich Tchaikovsky Leonard Bernstein New York Philharmonic - Bernstein Century Tchaikovsky Symphony no 4 etc New York PO (5 tracks) +Album Reviews

A 42-Year Old Gem!

Douglas Beckerman | Sherman Oaks, California USA | 01/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first of the 3 recordings that Bernstein did of this warhorse...all with the New York orchestra. The one in 1975 was uninspired and uninspiring. The reading was akin to browsing yesterday's newspaper...all the notes were in place, but that's about it. His final recording, about 10 years later is an unmitigated disaster. It shows all the peculiarities of the maestro's conducting in the last years of his life. Tempos taken at a lugubrious pace to the point of bringing the music to an essential halt, phrasing which defied explanation and some real rag-tag execution by his charges. The 1958 recording stands as a hallmark of genius in the interpretation of this symphony. The playing, the re-mastered recording, the interpretation...all PERFECT! When one takes into account that this was the first year of the stereo era and only Lenny's 3rd or 4th outing within the new technology, it is really marvelous that the results are nothing less than stunning. The engineering is even so good [some 4 decades ago] that you can hear a violinist cough rather loudly during a quiet passage in the first movement. One cannot say enough about each of the orchestral sections. It is sufficient to simply state that the musicians and conductor's hearts beat as one during these recording sessions. The "Capriccio Italien" filler is a great one. Done in 1963, the piece is played at a hell-bent for leather pace, but not at the sacrifice of the lyrical sections. All in all, the #1 choice for these two works. At mid-price, BUY THIS NOW if you love great music-making!"

Look here for the most exciting and uncompromising Tchaik 4

Bennett Astrove | Tampa, FL | 03/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listen... Right from the first echo of brass to the pounding sfzortzando chord that bursts through it, to the devastatingly lyric reading of the second movement, to the capricious (and the absolutely accurate) reading of the third, to the final unhalting pace taken in the fourth, this recording by the great Leonard Bernstein shines forth as one of the best of this work, not to mention of all of Bernsteins own recordings.The first movement puts forth everything perfectly in place for the rest of this cyclial symphony. Most passionate is the orchestra after the recapitulation and in the coda, where at the last second the luftpause in the entire orchestra will make your heart drop, only to be picked right back up an eternal second later for a most convincing resolution.Not much can be said of the second but that it is absolutely beautifully lush and the phrasing is dead on perfect for the recurring melody (especially in the hands of the celli).The third in the hands of Bernstein here makes such a stark contrast in itself and from the other movements as it is read with an almost youthful bravura. Delightfully playful especially when strings and winds play off of each other in the closing section.The tempo in the finale, to me, is at first the slightest bit slow (even slower in the repeat of the exposition). But it is worth while as it results in one of the greatest eight minute build ups ever recorded. The second occurence of the second theme here is almost devastatingly bold at first, but a brillianly exaggerated ritardando gushing into a repeat of the opening theme of the symphony releases boundless tension at the moment to fade into the close/Bernsteins closing passage here deserves a paragraph all its own. I have heard recordings that dont even dare accelerate this passage at all, but those recordings simply deflate at its end. Here, Bernstein shocks you; the dramatic increase in tempo can even be anticipated in the timpani roll that begins the brilliant build up to the now lightning fast descending runs that are to follow, and it rages to the closing bars without any comprimise.
Absolutely envigorating and almost painfully exciting to the end.
An absolute joy that any Bernstein or Tchaikovsky fan must own.Also the capriccio is good, but I am not a fan of the piece so a review from me would be quite biased."

Another wonderful recording from 1958 by an inspired Bernste

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 02/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Because he saw himself primarily as a composer, and because he had conducting dates around the world, Bernstein was somewhat reluctant to accept the leadership of the NY Phil. in 1958, but it was a magical year in the studio, with this great Tchaikovsky Fourth, a lovely Firebird, and a vivacious Mendelssohn "Italian" Sym. that live on to this day. Sony kept the Tchaikovsky out of circulation for years, favoring a 1975 remake that's distinctily less inspired.

Newly refurbished, the sonics are as big as all outdoors (the original Columbia engineers favored that style for Bernstein), although a bit thin and lacking in body. The performance has been ranked as one of the greatest in the stereo era, different but equal to Mravinsky's famed account on DG. What sets this Fourth apart isn't its Russian-ness (no Soviet conductor was ever this tender in the first movement's lyrical sections) but LB's spontaneous flow of insight from bar to bar--nothing is routine or unfeeling--while at the same time he keeps the sprawling structure together. That combination is extremely difficult to achieve, and we have to add the tremendous excitement of the NY Phil., which sounds supercharged without turning hysterical.

In all, a collector's item has returned to the catalog in remastered sound at a bargain price. What could be better?"

Fasten your seatbelt--an exhilarating Tchai 4

John Grabowski | USA | 03/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The cover photo says it all--Lenny looks like he's about to hurl a fastball across the plate in the top of the 9th inning during the World Series. The contents don't disappoint. This is a thrilling, intense Tchaikovsky 4th that rivals Mravinsky in every way, as another reviewer commented. The great Russian conductor on his DG recording has always been my benchmark for this work as well as the Tchaikovksy 6th, so that's high praise.

Here the NY Phil plays like it's on fire. While Lenny is not as scrupulous as Mravinsky in observing the very fine shadings of the p vs. ppp markings in the score, his account has a raw visceral quality that makes you not care, although he starts the first movements's second theme a bit slowly and it doesn't seem like it's going to hold together--the orchestra starts to race, fighting him a little. Also, the recording, as with many Columbia discs during that era, is a bit too up close and bright. The NY Phil brass never sounded--and as of the last time I heard them live, still hadn't sounded--quite like it's part of the orchestra. A critic once referred to them as sounding like independent contractors, and that's about right. One wishes for slightly better integration (trumpets get a little sloppy at times), as well as fewer moments of sharpness of pitch.

Still, these flaws are minor overall. (I once sat through a Tchaikovsky 4th by Seiji Ozawa where everything was perfect and not a hair was out of place, and it was just about the dullest experience of my life.) Just listen to the development second of the first movement; this is thrilling playing, and Bernstein knows where he's going with it every second. As it builds, we get to a famous section that sounds like increasing longing for something (or someone!). In his Young Children's Concerts, Lenny played this section at the piano explaining how music conveys feelings. "I want it!" he sings, "I want it I want it I waaaannt it!" Then he conducted the same passage to show the children what he meant. Here he really digs into that section better than anyone I've heard. It's a very special moment. In the entry to the coda, Lenny whips them all into an orgiastic frenzy that strikes me as totally appropriate for this music; it's much more exciting than the more cautious batons of other conductors. Those final chords in the trombones--does anyone else do them with such majesty?

The second movement is slow and stoic, which is how it should be to my ears--listen to the slow ramp up to the big statement of the main theme! *Then* listen to the delicate handling of the bassoon's theme when that instrument returns, caressing the phrase and shaping it lovingly into regret and sorrow. Magical! The third movement perhaps has more grace and lightness under other batons--Ormandy, Mravinsky, Previn--but this is perfectly fine. The finale is a joyous celebration of energy and color, so "Russian" that you'll be drinking Stoli and dancing like a bear. Lenny adds an agogic pause between the first two phrases in the intro. Normally I hate this technique--it often impedes the flow, drawing attention to itself at the expense of the music--but here it works. The closing bars will rattle your windows and shake your china, as it should.

Peter Ilyich and Nadezhda Filaretovna would have been proud of this recording of "their symphony," as they called the Fourth."

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