Your favourite Tchaikovsky symphony?

Atriod · April 26, 2024, 04:55:14 AM

Quote from: DavidW on April 25, 2024, 08:34:34 AMI also like Pletnev in the Manfred. Those are some seriously good recordings you're mentioning!

I haven't got to Pletnev yet in Manfred though it is in the Tchaikovsky box I have.

This is the only performance I like to date:

Karl Henning · April 26, 2024, 02:55:53 PM

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on April 25, 2024, 10:11:26 AMHurwitz argues that Lenny stretches out the last movement to balance in length the first. But if Tchaikovsky had wanted an 18-minute finale, he would have written 18 minutes of music, not a 10-minute movement that one conductor bloats to the point of absurdity.

Yours is a good point. I need to revisit that recording. I heard it long enough ago, I have no memory of it.

Cato · April 26, 2024, 07:59:19 PM

Quote from: Karl Henning on April 23, 2024, 07:20:39 AMPersonally, I've always liked the Vn Cto.

Amen! 😇

Quote from: Maestro267 on April 25, 2024, 10:20:57 AMIt's probably not the fashionable answer but nothing has come even remotely close to topping Litton/Bournemouth in the Tchaikovsky symphonies for me. Especially Manfred. It has a punch to it that completely blew me away when I first heard the symphony in 2007. No other recordings have hit the spot the way that one does.

Quote from: Cato on April 25, 2024, 08:34:29 PMDifficult as always, but let me try...

Manfred -6-5-1-3-4-2

Also, possible: Manfred -6-5-1-Three-Way Tie 3/4/2

Quote from: DavidW on April 25, 2024, 08:34:34 AM
I also like Pletnev in the Manfred.

I first heard Manfred in a truncated mono recording by Toscanini and the NBC Symphony: it will knock your socks and shoes off, and maybe even curl your toenails!

71 dB · April 27, 2024, 02:23:55 AM

Quote from: DavidW on April 25, 2024, 05:13:04 PMEven if you end up writing off Tchaikovsky, you can say that you finally gave a listen!

Well, I don't think I'll be writing Tchaikovsky off. I listen to some of his music (Rococo Variations, Serenade for Strings and Swan Lake to mention some works I enjoy),

71 dB · April 27, 2024, 02:27:36 AM

Quote from: Atriod on April 26, 2024, 04:46:24 AMJurowski's cycle of 1-6 are a bit more classical in style and at times it almost sounds like the LPO are a chamber orchestra. I'm not saying any of this is a bad thing. It's just not red blooded as Hurwitz would say "panting and heaving" Tchaikovsky ala Eschenbach, Kobayashi, etc.

ok. yes, the first two symphonies sound "classical" in Jurowski's hand.

71 dB · April 27, 2024, 03:10:13 AM

Just finished the 2nd Symphony. I liked the first one a bit better.

(poco) Sforzando · April 27, 2024, 05:24:34 AM

Quote from: Karl Henning on April 26, 2024, 02:55:53 PMYours is a good point. I need to revisit that recording. I heard it long enough ago, I have no memory of it.

I envy you.

Karl Henning · April 27, 2024, 06:00:01 AM

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on April 27, 2024, 05:24:34 AMI envy you.

(* chortle *)

DavidW · April 27, 2024, 07:22:53 AM

Quote from: 71 dB on April 27, 2024, 02:23:55 AMThere is just so much music in the World. I am exploring new music all the time. A lot of it just isn't classical music. I have been struggling with classical music for years. I am so tired of the question of "the best performance." I was told here I should have listened to Karajan instead of Jurowski. Come on! Jurowski can't be that bad and it has good sonics. If I become a Tchaikovsky nut(cracker) then I can explore Karajan and what not...

Yes streaming allowed me to grow beyond that silly, childish "best of" mentality. Now I just enjoy what I listen to, and I've stopped asking what is "the best."

QuotePopular music is so much simpler.

Except when buying cds apparently!

DavidW · April 27, 2024, 07:26:41 AM

Quote from: 71 dB on April 27, 2024, 02:27:36 AMI'm sure it is enough to tell me if Tchaikovsky's symphonies are my cup of tea or not. I am aware of the fact I am not listening to the absolute best performances ever.

I don't listen to music for other people. I listen to it for myself. This is my journey with my mistakes. I have done millions of mistakes and still the journey of exploring music has been great. I am a human being, not a robot executing "perfect exploration into classical music." More of this "you are listening to the wrong performances" and I will drop this and not listen to the rest. I have so much other stuff to listen to.

Atriod was just trying to share with you what clicked with him, trust me he was not trying to lecture you on how to listen to music. He just wanted you to start with the presentation that made him click with Tchaikovsky. I think he might be in the camp where is a bit ambivalent to Tchaikovsky unless the performance REALLY WORKS.

I will be honest, I'm not in that camp. I love everything Tchaikovsky wrote, in pretty much any performance. If you find yourself standing firmly in Atriod's mindset... that is why he is trying to help.

DavidW · April 27, 2024, 07:28:00 AM

Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on April 27, 2024, 05:24:34 AMI envy you.

Ha! Well I have Karl beat... I never heard it! I've heard Bernstein in symphonies 3-6 and that is it. I do love his third.

Wanderer · April 27, 2024, 09:25:28 AM

Quote from: 71 dB on April 25, 2024, 01:09:21 PMI am listening to form an opinion for this thread. I'm listening to Jurowski doing them all. It is fair.

Kudos if you enjoy what you hear. However, first you post this, asking for recommendations...

Quote from: 71 dB on April 22, 2024, 01:45:44 PMThe thought of which performance to check out...

...and then you're being rudely dismissive, in multiple posts, when people are trying to help you and recommendations are given to you.

(How does the adage go? No good deed goes unpunished.)

Wanderer · April 27, 2024, 09:27:03 AM

Quote from: DavidW on April 27, 2024, 07:26:41 AMAtriod was just trying to share with you what clicked with him, trust me he was not trying to lecture you on how to listen to music. He just wanted you to start with the presentation that made him click with Tchaikovsky.

So did I - and I believe everyone else that offered recommendations.

LKB · April 27, 2024, 10:43:49 AM

No recent mention of my favorite cycle here, so I'll plug them by simply remarking that one can do much, much worse than Haitink with the RCO.

Florestan · April 27, 2024, 11:35:42 AM

Quote from: DavidW on April 27, 2024, 07:26:41 AMI love everything Tchaikovsky wrote, in pretty much any performance.

A-M-E-N-!!!

Actually, this is valid for all my favorite composers --- my favorite performance of any of their works is the one I'm currently listening to.

It'll be a cold day in hell long before I do any A/B/C comparison.

71 dB · April 27, 2024, 11:42:37 AM

Quote from: Wanderer on April 27, 2024, 09:25:28 AMKudos if you enjoy what you hear. However, first you post this, asking for recommendations...

...and then you're being rudely dismissive, in multiple posts, when people are trying to help you and recommendations are given to you.

(How does the adage go? No good deed goes unpunished.)

Jurowski is not my own idea. It was recommended to me. I can also check other performances (of the best symphonies)

DavidW · April 27, 2024, 01:07:37 PM

Quote from: Florestan on April 27, 2024, 11:35:42 AMIt'll be a cold day in hell long before I do any A/B/C comparison.

We can leave that to Todd!

Karl Henning · April 27, 2024, 01:31:43 PM

Quote from: DavidW on April 27, 2024, 01:07:37 PMWe can leave that to Todd!

(* chortle *)

Que · April 28, 2024, 07:44:09 AM

Quote from: LKB on April 27, 2024, 10:43:49 AMNo recent mention of my favorite cycle here, so I'll plug them by simply remarking that one can do much, much worse than Haitink with the RCO.

Agreed. I particularly liked Haitink in the earlier symphonies.