ED1 DGG 138658 RED STEREO LOGO TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY 5 -

$

252

PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY

SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN E MINOR, Op. 64

LENINGRAD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

CONDUCTED BY

EVGENI MRAVINSKY

DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON GESELLSCHAFT

138658  ST 33  SLPM

STEREO

Fabulous, Original 1961 First Edition DGG record with red stereo logo below the bright-yellow cartouche. Early yellow label with large arrangement of tulips above the crown at the 12 o'clock position and Alle Hersteller at the 1 o'clock position. The LP is MINT and appears unplayed. Surfaces are smooth and retain their original lustre. There is no sign of spider tracery around the spindle hole. The jacket is MINT. Lamination overall is fully intact and spotlessly clean.

The Leningrad Philharmonic, which is now known as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, is Russia's oldest orchestra. The Slavic quality is so deeply ingrained in the orchestra that you keep hearing Russian music even when Austro-German repertoire is being played. It is easy to discern the characteristic Russian approach to orchestral coloration: dark, lush string sound; pungent, even edgy, wind timbres; plangent brasses; and exuberant percussion. Tempos are faster than usual, sometimes even furious. Anyone wishing to luxuriate in the deep, glowering sound and virtuosity this mighty orchestra can produce should look to the late Tchaikovsky symphonies. With the Russian musicians under Mravinsky, this music is not so much played as felt. Deeply felt.

Although the Leningrad Philharmonic of the 1960s may not be the equal technically of, say, the Vienna Philharmonic -- For Heaven's sake! what is? -- Mravinsky's strong performance of the Fifth Symphony is headlong and breathless. The conductor sounds the soul of 'correctness' in the first movement, which is expressed with cavernous gloom. Surely this is in keeping with Tchaikovsky's original intent in the score. The music begins to accelerate and Mravinsky doesn't dawdle. The recording smiles on the brass which shines momentously. The finale is tenderly expressed and the presto is taken at a withering speed. Mravinsky seems stern and remorseless, the frenzy is more frenzied, but it has the feel of real Tchaikovsky. It's more Russian than the ruble, and in better shape. And it's preferable to homogenized versions from other orchestras in the west. Far more preferable.

In sum, a superb recording. The sound is remarkably good for the time, a little edgy in the loudest passages but wonderfully present, just like the performance itself. This is an essential work for any collection. For Tchaikovsky devotees, it is simply a must!

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