Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 & 6 (2010)

This set combines three single albums recorded in the mid-2000s decade by conductor Daniele Gatti and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who sound terrific throughout. Each album pairs one of the last three Tchaikovsky symphonies with a shorter favorite by the composer. These shorter works are uniformly fabulous; the lithe, graceful Serenade for strings in C major, Op. 48, must be one of the most arresting on recordings. The symphonies are just as good in terms of technique and interpretive vision, but be sure that you're ... Read More

This set combines three single albums recorded in the mid-2000s decade by conductor Daniele Gatti and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who sound terrific throughout. Each album pairs one of the last three Tchaikovsky symphonies with a shorter favorite by the composer. These shorter works are uniformly fabulous; the lithe, graceful Serenade for strings in C major, Op. 48, must be one of the most arresting on recordings. The symphonies are just as good in terms of technique and interpretive vision, but be sure that you're down with the contemporary way of reining in the hyper-emotional quality in Tchaikovsky rather than taking the approach that the hyper-emotional quality is itself the point. Gatti has a way of making the large outer movements of these symphonies into single large gestures rather than sequences of rhetorical gestures, and those raised on Leonard Bernstein might miss the emotional roller coaster ride. But he does not reduce the overall scope of the music, which comes through,... Read Less