Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4; Serenade for Strings [Hybrid SACD]

Review-capsulated

If you saw these performances as part of a typical subscription concert, you would probably go away satisfied. They are proficient and respectful, and probably sounded more impressive live than they do at home. Järvi offers no special insights whatsoever into either big work. The Symphony's opening fanfare is matter-of-fact; the theoretically ferocious moment of recapitulation in the first movement is distinctly underwhelming. The solo oboe in the Andante lacks character, the scherzo trips along mechanically, and the finale manages speed without sparkle. It's just average. The same holds true for the Serenade, only here, from the first note, it's clear that the Gothenburg strings aren't special. Their tone lacks richness and body, while the conducting needs a stronger rhythmic profile. Järvi seems stuck in an interpretive rut. He used to be reliable and often very exciting; now he conducts like a man merely going through the motions. A pity.

—Classics Today

Read About This Recording

Neeme Järvi is one of the most recorded conductors of our time and has just recently completed his first cycle of Tchaikovsky symphonies for the BIS label. He does so with "his" orchestra of 22 years, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Le Monde de la Musique wrote about the Fourth, "Järvi grants the work its full magnitude."

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36, was written between 1877 and 1878 and is dedicated to Nadezhda von Meck, Tchaikovsky's silent patron. At her request, Tchaikovsky wrote program notes explaining the symphony. Tchaikovsky described the work's Fate motif, which he wrote was "the fatal power which prevents one from attaining the goal of happiness."

Järvi and the symphonies of Tchaikovsky have a connection. As a student of the legendary Yevgeni Mravinsky, whose Tchaikovsky interpretations are still considered among the greatest, Järvi recordings are firmly rooted in the great Russian tradition. A noteworthy find that shouldn't be missed!

—J. Maxwell Fletcher

Product Info

MHS version of this recording is not SACD.

Contents

Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36; Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48; Elegy in Memory of I.V. Samarin.

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Järvi, Conductor.