Search - Tchaikovsky, Slatkin, St Louis Symphony :: Romeo & Juliet / Overture 1812 / Symphony 2

Symphony *****, Romeo **, 1812 is fine, CD cover: F----

Gregory M. Zinkl | Chicago, IL | 12/10/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The "Little Russian" is worth your time to get to know. A very creative introduction to I, and charming second mov't, a breath-taking scherzo (for the players, too, I might add, having been victimized once by the piece!), and a Finale that what it lacks in emotional depth, it surely makes up for in the adrenalin department. The famous cymbal crash is at once awesome and almost humorous. Here it is played by an orchestra that clearly knows the score, and what an orchestra it is! Karajan can boast his Berliner's in his DG performance, but boy, they have all kinds of slips (totally uncharacteristic); you'll be hard pressed to find anything of the sort here. The reading is excellent, and can be set aside Markevitch's famous recording on Philips (LSO).Romeo and Juliet. Hmmmm. Maybe the other reviewer said it best. Romeo and Juliet + Slatkin = dead. The orchestra plays fine. But the blood never gets rushing. If the play had as little emotional thrust as this performance, Shakespeare would be known, if at all, as a hack. 'nuf said.The 1812 is a nice bonus, and it's great to have it played by an orchestra at a peak of technical prowess and personality (yes, SLSO has its own personality, and is not one of the many characterless orchestras that inflict us). However, you probably have an 1812 out there you already like.The cover of the CD bears mentioning: RCA, knock it off!!! You had creative covers for their other recordings of PIT's symphonies (1, 3-6), what's the deal with the soft-porn?? Besides, the real attraction here is the symphony.Buy it for the symphony, enjoy the 1812, program your CD player to skip R&J, and hid the cd cover from the kids!"

Good Representation of Early Tchaikovsky Character

David Indermill | Kent, Ohio | 05/15/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Most of us know the great works of Schubert, Dvorak, and yes .. Tchaikovsy, but do we know their early symphonies? Yet in these symphonies, although the more grand statements were yet to be made, the genius and creativity marks are already there. It could be said that Tchaikovsky only perfected and polished an already established music form in the Symphony. He did not carve out new territory like Beethoven did. But what an endless flow of beautiful melodies and of all the elements of music, isn't this the most essential to composing? This piece has real character and I think Slatkin is up to displaying it true to its nature. The imagination and creativity of the composer seems to be endless. For me this was originally a library CD, but now I am ordering it for two of my friends."