Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 1-3

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

 

 

Tchaikovsky's first three symphonies are immature in symphonic form, but Tchaikovsky more than makes up for it through his creative invention, colorful orchestration, and memorable melodies. The third symphony is often neglected, but is still as beautiful as anything Tchaikovsky does. The second is extremely memorable with the singable first movement to the typical Tchaikovsky finale which makes you want to jump up and dance. The first is very inventive, and the russian flavor permeates the whole peice. From the sparkling intro, to the tender second movement with rich harmonies, all the way through the ending that is really satisfying- the first symphony is my favorite of these three. Markevitch is the only conductor I love with these symphonies, besides Dorati. His energetic attacks and flowing musicality bring Tchaikovsky to life. The recording of Francesca da Rimini is one of the best I've heard also.

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.

You can't find a better set of Tchaikovsky's early symphonies in one set. Markevitch has complete control over the London Symphony and they play these neglected symphonies beautifully.

At a great price, this is the best (and only I might add) compilation to get!

Tchaikovsky's Symphonies 1, 2 and 3 may not share the fame and popularity of the later three (neither in the concert hall nor on disc), yet they are nonetheless fascinating pieces of music from start to end. In Igor Markevitch they find the strongest advocate. Markevitch clearly had a natural affinity with this music and quite ideally caught the contrasting moods of these early symphonies.
In this pioneering set recorded in the mid-sixties he always obtained strong, often exciting, incisive playing from the London Symphony Orchestra. An intense "Francesca da Rimini" with the New Philharmonia is offered as a thrilling bonus.
The sound quality is excellent overall. Next to Dorati's set (on Mercury) this twofer is a clear first choice for Tchaikovsky's early symphonies - at any price.

I am frankly rather puzzled by some previous lukewarm reviews, claiming that these performances are cool, routine and passionless and that Markevitch was clearly in decline. While I concede that there might be other recordings you could favour over these - Stokowski's "Francesca da Rimini"; Abbado's famous 1968 recording of the "Winter Dreams" and "Little Russian" symphonies come to mind - I really do not hear anything other than a master of the idiom successfully persuading two fine British orchestras to adopt enough rasp and edge to masquerade as echt Russian and giving us splendid, authentic-sounding accounts of Tchaikovsky's exuberant earlier symphonies. The odd thing is that you can find diametrically opposed reviews. While I do indeed find Markevitch's direction to be elegant and unmannered I certainly hear no lack of attack or propulsion; he simply lets the music unfold with an unerring sense of pace and architecture.

The "Polish" is beautifully gauged, with a lightness of touch and an air of the dance that suggests Tchaikovsky's ballet scores; all flickering flutes and courtly charm. The "Little Russian" is much earthier and more vigorous, as it should be, and the variations of finale reach a rousing climax. "Winter Dreams" is alert and rhapsodic by turns; the early "Gramophone" reviewer was right when he remarked upon how Markevitch confers a Mendelssohnian quality upon the music - it is mercurial, even capricious in mood. The "Francesca da Rimini" is impassioned and hard-driven, even if it does not rival the intensity of Stokowski with the so-called "Stadium Symphony Orchestra".

The sound here is really excellent as was typical of Philips' at this time: some very slight hum and negligible hiss but generally clean and clear if somewhat lacking in depth.

The fact that these performances have been collected together and made available so cheaply is by no means the only not excuse to buy them; they are valuable in their own right as representative of the work of a conductor who eschewed raw impact in favour of a more measured, "Viennese" approach to Tchaikovsky while still being able to deliver excitement at climactic points by virtue of his masterly pacing.

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.

Este Cd de las primeras sinfonias de Tchaikovsky es verdaderamente grandioso, un director ruso a plenitud, la mejor orquesta del mundo al maximo y un conjunto maravilloso de obras musicales.
Igor Markevitch logra en estas versiones lo que muy pocos logran al interpretar o dirigir estas tres sinfonias darles el toque justo de fuerza, sublimidad y poder; cada una tiene una mezcla clara de emotividad y sensibilidad, pero no falta espectacularidad, vigor y magnificencia, asi los primeros acordes de sueños de invierno estan sumamente alejados de la voragine de su andante lugubre-allegro maestoso del final, y Markevitch lo sabe y nos hace sentir que es la misma sinfonia pero que es diferente, sensible pero definitivamente explosiva.
Sigue ese mismo camino las dos siguientes sinfonias llenas de momentos de rememoranza, de dulce sentimiento y tambien de fulgor y estruendoso color musical, geniales son obras maravillosas que suenan y se sienten increibles.
La orquesta sinfònica de Londres es una de las mejores orquestas cuando el director que tiene al frente hace que este conjunto se ponga a disposicion del autor y la obra, extraordinarios.
Para sumar y hacer inperdible esta coleccion Markevitch se hace cargo de una maravillosa Francesca da Rimini, soberbio.

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.

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.

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.