Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Christoph Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra :: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5; The Seasons ("January"-"June" [Hybrid SACD ]

Balletic Grace, Tonal Depth, Fire & Drama: Tchaikovsky 5

Dan Fee | Berkeley, CA USA | 09/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the amazing, blazing wonders of Tchaikovsky' music is that it survives varied musical approaches. Imagine a spectrum of interpretations that still avoids violating the spirit of the music, if not also always the letter. On one end we might find the drama, brilliance, and astounding athletic daring-do of many famous players on the discs that must now sit on many fav shelves. Think - RNSO under Pletnev, LSO under Igor Markevitch, VPO under Lorin Maazel, Cleveland under Maazel, LSO or Cleveland under Szell, and the list goes on. On the other end, we find those whose muscular brilliance is only matched by something else, by other interesting qualities. Think the melancholy Russian soul evidenced by so many great Russian conductors of the past. Most recently, I have belatedly come across the wonderful discs by Vladimir Fedoseyev leading the Tchaikovsky Symphony of Moscow Radio. These may not be easy to find, but worth a look and a good listen. Other great Russian souls also come to mind, Svetlanov, and of course, Mravinsky. Kurt Sanderling's penchant for slow tempos allows his Russian heritage to come through like gangbusters. High Romantic Drama is also captured by Horenstein and by Stokowski, both leading the New Philharmonia London. In the middle we can find several different discs by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in its various golden decades.



So what about this newcomer?



The multi-channel super audio sound is vital, full-frequency, and helps turn your listening room into a creditable hallucination of Philadelphia's Verizon Hall. The symphony is recorded live, but you really don't hear the audience until the end when everyone bursts into deserved applause. I normally hate applause, even on live recordings; but the warm and well-balanced acoustics of the hall somehow moderate the disruptive impact of all the clapping on this one at the end. So I took it in stride.



After the symphony, the disc offers us six of the little piano pieces from Tchaikovsky's Seasons cycle. Eschenbach started musical life as a world-class pianist, so his fine way with these small treasures comes as no surprise. One hears so much affection, charm, and color that one wishes he had just done the whole twelve pieces for a second, added-value disc to the set. Now I normally hate to find that solo piano pieces or other chamber music follows an orchestral work on a disc, too. But this time I am not jarred. It was easy to segue into the Seasons after the Fifth Symphony.



I suspect the reasons for this involve the merit of the Tchaikovsky playing going on, combined with the health of the super audio sound as it surrounds you and lifts you away into its two different performances.



In the symphony, Philadelphia continues to demonstrate its mettle. The rich, lush string sound is still there. The long-breathed depth, spice, and shine of the woodwinds is still there. The brass are somehow tonally mellow and yet brilliant, all at the same time. Nobody fluffs - and remember the symphony was recorded live - either together, or in one of the many gleaming or dramatic or yearning solo bits that the composer wove through his orchestral fabric.



Eschenbach chooses varied tempos, but he always knows what he wants to do with them. His overall style is more ballet-based, like the famed Mravinsky versions, than not. One hears this work in his vision as written by a full-length ballet composer who could manage color, drama, and long-term narratives. Oddly enough, then, this persistent grace of The Dance serves beautifully as a vital through-line. The symphony never falls apart into separate movements, or even sections of movements. No trade-offs between having a glorious moment at the expense of the larger story in progress.



All of this sounds ever so easy. But it surely was not.



Easy, too, is our part when we drop this lovely disc into our players. If you already have other beloved versions on your fav shelf, you may still be strongly tempted by this one. It can stand the long-term comparisons, although you still may not throw the others out. If you are just starting, and need a first Fifth Symphony, have no fear. This one will get you up and running, and probably stay the distance of many years as you listen, listen, listen. Smile.



Stars - for sound. Stars - for being musical. Stars - for sweetness, tonal allure, fire, drama, and brilliance. Highly recommended."

Disappointing

D. DEGEORGE | Ellicott City, MD USA | 01/09/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the finest in the world, and Eschenbach is one of my favorite conductors. This recording does have many virtues, as some other reviewers have pointed out; but I was expecting more.



On the positive side, from the first beguiling notes from the bassoon to the end of the symphony one can revel in the beautiful sounds that come out of each of the choirs of this, possibly greatest-in-the-world, orchestra. The playing is all the more remarkable for having been captured in a live performance, although this is par for the course with the Philadelphia. Each phrase is suffused with intelligent musicianship, but one wishes for more spontaneity and fire.



Sadly, though, I believe that the first movement sinks of its own over-indulgent weight. The third-movement waltz was leisurely but lovely except for one tempo change intended to underline a phrase, but which I found to be arbitrary and heavy-handed (the German conductor could not resist making Tchaikovsky sound a bit like Beethoven for a moment?). The fourth movement was grandly dramatic but not exciting. The last chords gave the symphony an emphatic, punched-out conclusion that was one of the more effective gestures; had this been the only place that the interpretation sounded heavy-handed, it would have been fine.



The recorded sound in stereo is lush and well-balanced with a good sense of hall ambience. It is an unusually centered sound with instruments coming from no direction in particular, kind of a monophonic sound plus hall ambience. It's a little strange not to hear the first violins in their customary position on the left. I do not have an SACD player to see if there is any more directionality in the 5.0 surround version.



There are many better recordings, including the classic performances by Dorati with the London Symphony and Mravinsky with the (then) Leningrad Philharmonic Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6 "Pathetique". If one prefers more modern recorded sound, (s)he could go with a very good performance by Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic. Although the live pickup in Salzburg was not ideal, I'd still rate it a bit higher than that of this Philadelphia recording.



The "filler" on this disc is the first half of Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons" for piano, in which Eschenbach does a nice job. To get the other half, one has to purchase the Eschenbach/Philadelphia orchestra recording of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. One would expect that as a result these two discs would only be available as a set, but it is good that one has the choice of buying the symphonies individually."