Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 1-3

Igor Markevitch's Tchaikovsky performances have been among the best since the early '60s. He turned the unruly London Symphony Orchestra into a first-rate Tchaikovsky ensemble, in which a finely disciplined approach to rhythm provides the perfect foundation for some highly expressive music-making. The neglected Third Symphony is particularly cogent and exciting in Markevitch's hands. No lover of this composer should miss hearing these terrific discs. --David Hurwitz Amazon.com

Half of It's Just Fine.

The First and Second are handled nicely, experts playing the Tchaikovsky they know so well. I think I'll keep them, in fact.

But for the Third and "Francesca da Rimini," I would suggest you continue your search. The Third is horribly out of tune throughout, and the orchestra has a hard time keeping together, much less anything approaching precision. Rather surprising given the fine sonority and detail of the first two symphonies. You can usually rely on Phillips for quality recordings at a slightly lower price. Evidently, not always. July 24, 2008

A disappointment from a declining Markevitch

Sadly, these early Tchaikovsky symphonies find Igor Markevitch, one of my great heroes, in decline. He suffered a disastrous hearing loss around 1961, and ever after his brilliant podium skills were not the same. I suppose on reputation alone one could admire these recordings, but in truth they are competent and fairly ordinary from beginning to end. I would only buy them as a standby or for reasons of economy.

The LSO plays competently but without enough vitality or Russian passion. Philips' recorded sound is unattractive, too, lacking in body and warmth. I must agree with Mr. Lipscomb that if you place any of these three symphonies beside their best rivals, the "Winter Dreams" sounds listless next to Tilson Thomas and the BSO (DG), the "Little Russian" lacks the spontaneity and vigor of Giulini on EMI, and the "Polish" needs the power and conviciton of the Chicago Sym. under Abbado (Sony). The best thing here is a nervy, restless Francesca da Rimini, but that's not enough reason to purchase the whole set. March 18, 2007

Peter Ilyich becomes Tchaikovsky

The planets aligned when the young Tchaikovsky, the London Symphony Orchestra, and Igor Markevitch came together between 1965 and 1975 in London for performances that Philips has had the good sense to issue in their high-value Philips Classics series. This two-desk set is a classic that years to be played on a high-quality sound system that will bring out the concert-hall effects it concludes.

Though the digital remastering fails to eliminate a low hum when played at high volume, the authenticity of the sound is worth this minor inconvenience. At one point, the listener can hear a page turn - perhaps a page of Markevitch's score. A cantankerous music lover might ask with annoyance how the hell they allowed a microphone close enough to Markevitch's podium to fall into a glitch like that. This astonished and less demanding reviewer almost pulled his truck off the road at the sheer historical thrill of becoming privy to such a human 'error' four decades after the fact.

In these three symphonies, Tchaikovsky is working out the tonalities that will appear in full flower later in his career, not least in the heart-rending struggles of the underrated but profoundly beautiful 'Pathetique'. The plausibilities available to a late Romantic composer like Tchaikovksy allowed the elasticity of tempo and tone that made possible the climb-and-descend, climb-and-descent motifs that are Tchaikovsky explores in these first three of his recognized symphonies, a modality that becomes almost a Tchaikovsky signature when his body of work is considered as a whole.

Markevitch's baton is patient with Tchaikovsky, allowing the LSO and the New Philharmonia Orchestra to work unhurriedly though some of Romantic music's most memorable passages.

A reviewer would be remiss not to underscore the value of the Philips Classics series, where almost canonical performances by legendary performers of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are made available at two-for-one pricing under digital remastering that rescues valuable sounds for the ages.

This 1995 issue would serve well even as a listener's sole recording of Peter Ilyich's first three symphonic steps towards becoming the rather immortal musician we know as Tchaikovsky. December 24, 2006

Decent performances, good value

As boxed sets go, this is probably as good as you will find when it comes to the early Tchaikovsky symphonies, and the price will be impossible to beat. No doubt individual recordings of the various symphonies are available that will have more more flair to them --- definitely, these performances take a strict by-the-numbers approach which may leave more ardent Tchaikowsky devotees feeling chilled. However, by and large, the performances are consistently decent if not great (I prefer a livlier tempo for the Polish, but that's just me).

This is the perfect set for those who are largely indifferent to Tchaikowsky's symphonies --- as I must admit that I am these days --- but nonetheless would like to have them available for listening for not a lot of money. It is also a good starter set for those who are just beginning to assemble a basic collection of the standard symphonic repertoire. August 20, 2005

Very Straightlaced Readings

This super-cheap, extremely well-recorded Philips CD set of Tchaikovsky's first three symphonies is easy to recommend. The disciplined playing by the London Symphony is top-notch and Markevitch obviously knows his way around all three scores. So if you are looking for an inexpensive way to own Tchaikovsky's earliest symphonies in excellent stereo, this set strikes me as a clear first choice.

As for the interpretations, however, I have some misgivings about Markevitch here. He was unquestionably one of the 20th Century's virtuoso conductors: his pointillistically detailed style and cool precision are recognizable in just about everything he recorded. And, on occasion, he conducted Tchaikovsky with real expressive fire - his French Radio Orchestra account of "Romeo & Juliet" (Angel LP) is my all-time favorite, along with Mengelberg's (Andante - see my review). And his Philharmonia readings of Ravel's "La Valse" and the Shostakovich 1st Symphony are in a class of their own (EMI).

It's only when you do some comparing with individual symphony recordings by other conductors that the shortcomings of Markevitch's cool objectivity here become all too apparent. Perhaps the LSO is partly to blame - they simply don't sound very Russian to my ears. With Markevitch at the helm, the 1st symphony is more like wintry dreams than Winter Dreams, the Little Russian only sounds a little Russian, and the 3rd Symphony has too much polish and too little that's Polish. In a nutshell, there isn't much heart or soul on display here.

My preferred alternatives in these works are mostly old mono recordings that any self-respecting audiophile wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole: the Dante LYS CD of the Nikolai Golovanov/USSR Radio's impassioned #1 (recorded 1948) and the old Stradivari LP (re-issue needed!) of the 1st with Natan Rachlin and the Bolshoi Symphony (coupled with a wonderful #2); #2 played with warmth and insight by Beecham/RPO (Columbia LP) and an extraordinary "live" Second with Igor Stravinsky conducting the NY Phil. (available only in that orchestra's 10-CD "Historic Broadcasts" set); and the partially cut rendition of the Polish by Albert Coates on that conductor's volume in IMG's "Great Conductors" CD series. And finally - a modern recording! - there's an inspired "live" 3rd with Svetlanov (BBC Legends).

I keep this Markevitch set because 1) it's well-played and 2) it contains my only stereo accounts of #1 and #2. However, the icy chill of Markevitch's conducting in the Philips companion CD set of #4-6 was too much for me: I weeded it.

Recommended as an inexpensive collection in first-rate sound. But for genuine excitement, I listen far more frequently to the alternatives listed above. May 18, 2005

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