Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic :: Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 (The Royal Edition, No. 89 of 100)

A Decent Try...Sabotaged by Amateurish Audio Engineering

Douglas Beckerman | Sherman Oaks, California USA | 03/31/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Fans of Tchaikovsky's music should feel grateful that Bernstein never re-recorded the three early symphonies. One need only consider what the much-vaunted musician did to eviscerate #4-6 on DG in the waning years of the conductor's life. The interpretations of these two symphonies is simply untenable. They suffer from some strange observations in tempo and some unusually raggedly playing from the resident artists of Avery Fisher Hall. The strings, in particular, seem to be laboring under an insufficient amount of rehearsal time. The most effective portions of both symphonies are the slow, lyrical sections...the Land of Desolation, Land of Mists movement in #1 and the Andantino Marziale, Quasi Moderato in #2. Other than that 20 minutes or so of music, this CD is a considered failure. The best recordings of this duo are both currently out of the catalogue, but will hopefully be re-released to a public hungry for an outstanding "Winter Daydreams" and "Little Russian." The benchmarks are #1...Michael Tilson Thomas and the Boston Symphony (recorded in early 1970 shortly after his concert debut with the same orchestra) on DG and #2...Andre Previn and the London Symphony on RCA (recorded in 1966) with a filler of Liadov's Eight Russian Folk Songs. The most critical problem with this Bernstein CD is that the sound is murky and unfocused. It sounds as though the sessions were done under the East River. It makes one feel as though no one were paying attention during the playbacks."

This is a fine recording

albertatamazon | East Point, Georgia USA | 06/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After reading many of the customer reviews of the Bernstein recordings of Tchaikovsky's symphonies, nearly all of which sharply contrast with the Amazon reviewers', one is sorely tempted to think that perhaps some people simply "have it in" for Bernstein's Tchaikovsky, and are determined to dislike it no matter what. The performances on this album of Tchaikovsky's two earliest symphonies are as fine as any other good recording of these melodic, but not great works. Bernstein puts all his energy into these performances, and he very nearly convinces you that they are every bit as good as Tchaikovsky's 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies. Most performances of these works are nothing more than idle curiosities, as if the conductor were merely trying out a novelty, but Bernstein actually seems to take this music seriously, even though it does not contain even half of the genuine feeling that Tchaikovsky would put into his greatest works, including his last three symphonies, not to mention his concertos and ballets. The sound and orchestral playing are quite excellent; Sony's remastering makes it difficult to believe that these pieces were recorded more than thirty years ago. Perhaps it isn't 2002 stereo, but so what?If there was any conductor that can fully bring out Tchaikovsky's romanticism, it was Leonard Bernstein, and we should be glad that he saw fit to record all of his symphonies at a time when recordings of all six of these works were still a rarity."

Much better than these reviews would have you believe

Whisperkey | 05/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just rediscovered these aver 25 years.



The sound is very intimate with lots of detail. You can really hear them making them music. Violins are a bit harsh at times, but lower strings are detailed and transparent. Excellent solo wind playing and exciting performances.



Worth a try, especially if these Symphonies are new to you."