Tchaikovsky: Complete Symphonies, Overtures [Box set, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Maurice de Abravanel (Conductor), Utah Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Maurice Abravanel (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Utah Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Maurice de Abravanel
• Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (October 16, 2001)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Vox (Classical)
• ASIN: B00005QKFQ
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,645 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17: Andante sostenuto; Allegro vivo

2. Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17: Andantino marziale

3. Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17: Allegro molto vivace

4. Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 17: Moderato assai

See all 8 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Manfred, Symphony in Four Tableux after the Dramatic Poem of Byron, Op. 58: Lento Lugubre: Moderato con moto: Andante

2. Manfred, Symphony in Four Tableux after the Dramatic Poem of Byron, Op. 58: Vivace con spirito

3. Manfred, Symphony in Four Tableux after the Dramatic Poem of Byron, Op. 58: andante con moto

4. Manfred, Symphony in Four Tableux after the Dramatic Poem of Byron, Op. 58: Allegro con fuoco

See all 6 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74: Adagio; allegro non troppo

2. Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74: Allegro con grazia

3. Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74: Allegro molto vivace

4. Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74: Adagio lamentoso

See all 7 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Symphony No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 11: Andante lugubre; Allegro maestoso

2. Symphony No. 3 in D, Op. 29: Moderato assai; Allegro brillante

3. Symphony No. 3 in D, Op. 29: Allegro moderato e semplice

4. Symphony No. 3 in D, Op. 29: Andante elegiaco

See all 7 tracks on this disc

Disc: 5

1. Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36: Andante sostenuto; Moderato con anima

2. Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36: Andantino in modo di canzona

3. Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36: Scherzo: Allegro

4. Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36: Finale: Allegro con fuoco

See all 6 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bargain price, but is this a bargain?, November 18, 2005

By 

Alan Majeska "Alan Majeska" (Bad Axe, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Complete Symphonies, Overtures (Audio CD)

Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony made a number of fine recordings for Vox, Vanguard, and Westminster in the 1960s and 1970s, especially of Milhaud, Harris, Copland and other 20th century composers. Abravanel, who became conductor of the Utah Symphony in the late 1940s, is credited as having raised the musicians' standard of playing, and getting the orchestra increased recognition through new recordings released during the early stereo era (late 1950s on).

The Utah Symphony plays well enough, but they do not have the power of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy, the Cleveland Orchestra under Szell, the Chicago Symphony under Reiner, in other words, of the major American orchestras. They are professional and more than competant, but do not have the lush string tone for Tchaikovsky's great moments. Therefore, you may find this wanting a bit for power in climaxes, and the louder parts of slow movements. When stacked against the best recordings of the Tchaikovsky Symphonies, Abravanel comes up short, sounding bland and unexciting.

However, there are some good recordings in this collection. Abravanel's Tchaikovsky Symphonies 1 and 2 are better than many recordings of these works, but there are exposed violin parts in Symphony 1: IV which are scratchy and out of tune. These parts are HARD to play, however, but the Utah Symphony doesn't have the precision of the Boston Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas (DG) or the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan (DG), for example. Abravenel's Symphony 3 is also better than some, but not the best: dry acoustics make this rather lackluster sounding. Better for Symphony 3 is the Polish National Orchestra/Antoni Wit (Naxos).

Symphony 4 sounds good to me, but is a little light: it could use more power in the stormy pages of I, and the furious swirling passages of IV. For Symphonies 5 and 6, the competition is tough: lots of very fine recordings, so they suffer a little in comparison. 5 is especially dry; 6 fares better than 5, but neither can compare to Ormandy (Sony), Bernstein (Sony), or Wit (Naxos).

MANFRED is better than some, but again inferior to the best: Muti (EMI), Previn (EMI) or Markevitch/LSO (Philips). 1812 and Marche Slave are both excellent, Francesca less so - the lush string sound thing again.

So is this a bargain? For about $15.00, you get 7 major works and a bunch of discmates, but if you already have the great recordings listed above, you don't need this. I tend to go at the Tchaikovsky Symphonies disc by disc: Tilson Thomas/Boston (Symphony 1, DG); Markevitch/London Symphony (2, Philips);
Wit/Polish National (3, Naxos); Ormandy/Philadelphia(4, Sony);
Wit/Polish National (5, Naxos); Ormandy (6, Sony) are all suggested alternatives, but there are certainly many other excellent ones.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars what a bargain!!, December 12, 2003

By 

Rob Watkins (Augusta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Complete Symphonies, Overtures (Audio CD)

this collection is worth buying if only for the price--FIVE CDs for the price of one! for someone seeking an inexpensive way to explore the symphonic works of tchaikovsky this set is hard to beat. it is true that the perfomances are not at the same level of say bernstein and the NY philharmonic, they are admirably performed. personal favorites are symphonies 4,5 and 6. the utah symphony brings out the meaning and emotion of these masterworks of romanticism, particularly the muted sentiment of no. 6. the famous scherzo of no. 4 comes across with playful bounce you would expect. there are disappointments. the 1812 overture is okay, but lacks the punch of other performances, particularly the timeless one from nearly fifty years ago on the mercury label. the marche slave is a bit humdrum. but again, at this price for this much music, the flaws can be overlooked. highly recommended for beginning collectors on budget!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Careful - Misprinted copies!, March 26, 2006

By 

Mare Astra (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Complete Symphonies, Overtures (Audio CD)

As others have said in their reviews, the Utah Symphony Orchestra does a good job, but does not overwhelm the listener with passion. Overall, a good buy to get all the symphonies in one collection.

HOWEVER, it seems that at least one release of this set contains a misprint where Disc 1 is actually another artist and genre altogether! My disc 1 is some sort of Gospel CD, and even looking it up in the CCDB database didn't turn up the artist or title. Perhaps Amazon will replace your copy if you have one of the misprints, but VOXBOX will NOT. So buy with care.