Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5; Capriccio italien; The Voyevoda [Hybrid SACD] at MusicalHeritage.com

Review

BIS's super audio sound really is better than its standard digital sound, and, considering that BIS' standard digital has been at the apex of digital technology for 20 years, that is quite an achievement. As embodied in this recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 with the Gothenburg Symphony under {Neeme Järvi}, BIS' super audio sound is clearer, more immediate, more present, more real than virtually any other digital sound in the world. It is truly a marvel of technical progress.

So, too, is the conducting by {Järvi} a marvel of progress. While the severely limited {Järvi} has always been at his best with the Gothenburg -- think of his 1985 recording of Berwald's Symphonies on DG -- his Tchaikovsky recordings with them have been far better than the best recordings {Järvi} has ever made. The Gothenburg's warm colors and cool intensity bring out the best in {Järvi}, his fascination with colors and his relaxed enthusiasm. More importantly, the Gothenburg's accomplished virtuosity nearly covers for {Järvi}'s many technical deficiencies, his difficulty keeping to a tempo, his disinclination to attend to balances, his tendency to over-drive rhythms. While it is by no means in the same exalted class as Mravinsky's or Svetlanov's, much less Gergiev's or Temirkanov's, {Järvi}'s Fifth does have a sense of the work's hysterical energy and histrionic drama. For the fillers, {Järvi}'s Voyevoda is a darkly colored, dourly gloomy, and certainly the best recording of this rarely recorded work, and his Capriccio Italien is brilliantly colored, irresistibly rhythmic, and possibly one of the better recordings of this often recorded work. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide

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 that the Fifth is "striking in its dramatic and architectural cohesion."

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, which begins in deathly sadness but ends in a jubilant mood, was first performed in 1888 under the baton of the composer himself. Tchaikovsky had reservations about the work, worrying that it was "too colorful, too massive" and speculating that he had reached the end of his creative career. Unsure of himself all his life, he nevertheless continued to compose.

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

Quotes

"9/10" —Classics Today

Tracklisting

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5; Capriccio italien; The Voyevoda [Hybrid SACD]
	1.	Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Neeme Järvi Length: 15:49
	2.	Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Neeme Järvi Length: 13:12
	3.	Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Neeme Järvi Length: 6:05
	4.	Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Neeme Järvi Length: 12:17
	5.	The Voyevoda -- Symphonic Ballad, for orchestra, Op. post. 78 by Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Neeme Järvi Length: 13:25
	6.	Capriccio Italien, for orchestra (or piano, 4 hands), Op. 45 by Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Conductor: Neeme Järvi Length: 15:55