Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos 4 & 6. Violin Concerto Ricci, E Kleiber, Sargent

The last three symphonies remain for many listeners the ultimate expression of musical romanticism. Their gorgeous tunes, luscious orchestration, and huge emotional range tempt many interpreters to extremes of musical excess– but not Igor Markevitch. These brilliantly played, exceptionally precise performances let the hysteria speak for itself, while focusing on the music's architectural strength. The results are uncommonly exciting, supple, and above all sensitive to the music's many beauties. Having withstood the test of time, and at two discs for the price of one, this might very well be a first choice for newcomers and collectors alike. Excellent recorded sound too.

This double album consists of Tchaikovsky performances that have been issued in several different forms. The Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 was recorded in 2012, when the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, a joint project of the cities of Tromsø and Bodø, was still called the Nordic Philharmonic; from a marketing point of view, with graphics showing the orchestra members, instruments and all, standing in the snow, the name change was a good one.

Karajan's mid-1970s Tchaikovsky interpretations are regarded as his finest in a career of performing the Russian composer's last three symphonies. Unitel's films from this period - released here for the first time on DVD - documented the maestro with his great Berlin orchestra on 35mm colour film and in stereo. “Others have gotten more sadness out of Tchaikovsky… but not more virility and controlled intense beauty than Karajan in the Unitel film.” - New York Times

Valery Gergiev is widely recognized as the greatest modern interpreter of Tchaikovsky's music and the Mariinsky Orchestra holds a peerless reputation in the repertoire. These acclaimed performances were filmed at Salle Pleyel in Paris during January 2010 and directed by Andy Sommer. The themes of fate and death pervade Tchaikovsky's final symphonies. The composition of the fourth symphony coincided with the breakdown of Tchaikovsky's marriage and a failed suicide attempt and the sixth symphony premiered shortly before Tchaikovsky's death. The disc includes a bonus interview of Maestro Gergiev directed by Tommy Pearson.

Koussevitzky’s early biographer Lourie reports that in his salad days Koussevitzky–like his mentor Arthur Nikisch–“based his performances of Tchaikovsky on the emotional side of the music… (but in later years) after undergoing a great and serious evolution… [Koussevitzky] adopted a correct and entirely new method of treating this composer”. While that new method may have emphasized the music’s symphonic structure and Beethovenian dynamism, Koussevitzky never slighted the seething emotions that permeate this composer’s scores. Ever the showman, Koussevitzky deftly portrays the composer’s shifting moods, from the ink-black darkness and devastation of the Pathetique to the incredible resilience of the human spirit captured in the closing moments of the Fourth Symphony, immediately following the last and most disturbing appearance of the fate motif.

Leonard Bernstein conducts three works by Tchaikovsky: Symphony in F Minor, op 36 (performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra), Symphony in E Minor, op 64 (performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and Violin Concerto in D Major, op 35 (featuring Russian violin virtuoso Boris Belkin).

Herbert von Karajan recorded almost everything in the standard orchestral repertoire once, many works two or three times, between his 1950s recordings for EMI with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the early 1960s for Decca with the Vienna Philharmonic, and his 1960s - 1989 recordings, mostly with the Berlin Philharmonic, for Deutsche Grammophon.