Customer Reviews

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Tempest/Symphony No. 2

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recordings by Abbado with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are a matter
of miracle for me. Not in agreement with other reviewers, i think on this
association as very fortunate, not only for those Tchaikovsky recordings,
but for Mahler and many other composers. This 2nd symphony is one of the
highlights in Abbado's very good cycle with this orchestra. Very well
played, perfectly judged in tempi, balance and dynamics and a very good
sound quality. This was the first version i got of this symphony and for
my taste is still the first choice when i want lo listen it. Perhaps not
"odorously russian" as Svetlanov or bombastic as Muti, but you'll always
find everything in the correct place. The Tempest in this CD is another
great performance and you`ll find it in the same league as the symphony.
A safe recommendation.

Claudio Abbado's Chicago recording of Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" Symphony was among my first 10 CDs, back in 1986. Reading negative reviews of it later on, I gave it to my niece, but later bought another copy via Amazon.com, as all critics don't agree on the negative status of Abbado's Chicago recording.

This is rather "Slap dash" and played with a "devil may care" attitude on the part of the Chicago orchestra, which isn't all wrong, but Abbado doesn't take enough time in certain places to make this work really hang together coherently. The fast parts of I and IV are really FAST, and sound nearly out of control in places, but I am not as critical of this recording as some are. It is exciting, and if you aren't concerned about every note being in place, you might think more highly of it than I do. The sound is very good, but I give it 4 stars, as the performance could have been better.

There are better recordings around: Markevitch/London (Philips); Litton/Bournemouth (Virgin Classics, with the complete Tchaikovsky Symphonies); and Leaper/Polish National (Naxos). But, if you don't mind the slap dash approach Abbado used in this recording, it's an OK buy. (4 stars out of 5, or 80% of the highest mark, would be about a low "B-" by the standards of education I had in the 1960s and 70s when in school.)

this comment is about the sound of this recording, which have been recorded using the Soundstream system engineered by Jack Renner, the same team from the early TELARC digital recording technic which made them famous due to the amazing sound from those recordings.

That recording process used a sample rate of 50Khz making that a huge dynamic range you can hear on the original LP's produced then, This CD was made in the early days of the CD boom, and during the transfer there is a "downsize" in the sampling rate from 50khz to 44.1khz to produce the CD suffering from well known drawbacks of CD format, making the sound acceptable in the quiet parts and in the louder passages saturated

I have had this recording for several years, and the performance is balanced for my ears, but the sound make this cd less than enjoyable (recently have purchased the Neeme Jarvi SACD, no comparison of course! but the SACD makes a difference!)

By the time this CD was produced also the LP version was available (I would like to have it to hear this symphony at full!) hope that this recording be available in SACD...

Claudio Abbado es un gran director, y en su ciclo de Tchaikovsky tiene bastantes logros. La sinfonia N°2 es bellisima y Abbado logra entregarnos una magnifica version, el punto de conflicto y lo he comentado es la fuerza y brillantes de la Orquesta de Chicago que no alcanza el nivel del director italiano. Por ello que la sinfonia suena un poco mas fria u oscura, y el sonido es mas apagado. La interpretacion se apega a el esquema clasico de la sinfonia con momentos sublimes y sensibles, y otros mas luminosos y alegres.

Para la Tempestad un aumento de puntaje, quizas la forma de afrentar el poema sinfonico sea el motivo que en comparacion este por sobre el nivel de la sinfonia.

Claudio Abbado excelente, la orquesta un poco debil, para la sinfonia Igor Markevitch es soberbio.

The Tchaikovsky 2nd is one of those war horses that you can't help loving in spite of (or maybe because of) its overblown histrionics. Peter Ilyich knew how to get big sound from an orchestra, and Claudio Abbado knows how to make the Chicago Symphony Orchestra sing. His final movement sustains the rhythmic drive to the finish that lesser conductors sometimes can't manage. But I cannot recommend the recording, which is marred by early "digital sound" that sounds strident and strained in the loudest passages, although it does have great dynamic range and weight.

Mr. Abbado feels, and loves, this music and it shows in all the length of the recording

Not my favorite Tchaikovsky symphony, it is the 5th, but I fully enjoyed the work

I aldo have the Pletnev complete cycle, but thius second is better