Tschaikowsky 5th symphonie. Good version??

Posted by: o.j. on 06 November 2004

Hy there! yesterday i was in vienna musikvereeinssaal listening to the performance of tschaikowskys 5 th.symphonie.
I liked the performance and also our forum member Jun Keller was playing violin.
coming back home i found only a cheap(not realy good)version of the symphonie in my cd
collection.maybe the performance is quite ok but a big lack of recording Quality.
Now i am looking for an excelent cd or vinyl
version of that symphonie.5th tschaikowsky/köchel64
Who can tell me which one to buy?
Thanks O.J.(i also wanted to mail Jun keller personaly,but i think there are at the moment
problems with the forums search function)
Posted on: 06 November 2004 by graham55
By common consent, Evgeny Mravinsky with the Leningrad Philharmonic, recorded (in mono) by DGG in 1956, takes a lot of beating. He didn't manage to do so when recording in stereo (also for DGG) a few years later.

I have personally never heard better.

Although Lovro von Matacic/Czech PO (on Supraphon) has a greater degree of charm.

Both have the lovely (in my opinion) old style Eastern European horns. Orchestras just don't sound like this any more (although that was the sound which Tchai... presumably had in mind).

G
Posted on: 07 November 2004 by o.j.
thanks for all reply!will buy mravinski versions tomorrow.(if they are available.)
O.J.
Posted on: 07 November 2004 by graham55
Just for clarification.

There are two DGG sets with the Leningrad PO.

The mono set on DG's "Originals" series is a 2CD set with Kurt Sanderling conducting the Fourth Symphony and Mravinsky conducting Five and Six.
It is mid-price, cat no 447 423-2.

The stereo remakes are on a 2CD full-price set, cat no 419 745-2. Mravinsky conducts Four, Five and Six.

Both have the Fifth split over the two CD's.

You pays your money and takes your choice.

G
Posted on: 09 November 2004 by Phil Barry
As an Unabashed Romantic Slob of America, I love Tchai's 5th Symphony, and I, too, starting reading this thread to recommend Mravinsky.

But Jun's band is pretty good, at least it is on the records and CDs with the VPO that I have (Furtwangler to Kleiber pere to Kleiber fils to Bernstein).

I suspect that even the Mravinsky won't hold a candle to what you heard live.

Regards.

Phil
Posted on: 09 November 2004 by o.j.
quote:
Originally posted by Phil Barry:
As an Unabashed Romantic Slob of America, I love Tchai's 5th Symphony, and I, too, starting reading this thread to recommend Mravinsky.

But Jun's band is pretty good, at least it is on the records and CDs with the VPO that I have (Furtwangler to Kleiber pere to Kleiber fils to Bernstein).

I suspect that even the Mravinsky won't hold a candle to what you heard live.

Regards.

Phil
Phil!Itook place onthe second upper galery first row in exactly in the middle.there you sit nearby 50 or more meters away from the orchester.and i think nearby 15 meters higher than the orchester.the atmosphere was as good
as it is ever in musikvereeinssaal,(imo one of the best classical performance rooms all over the world)but:so far away the sound is missing
a lot of its level and immediateness in compare
to the places parkett middle,also the "soundstage"(means the vertical direction of sound)came to my ears in a little bit strange way.
my last visit in musikverein was korsakovs "scheherazade" and their i had a perfect listener place somewhere inthe middle of parkett.this was indeed a superperformance compared to (nearby)every
homestereosystem out of its combination of sheer level,dynamic and accurracy.
Listening to that "real live thing" i would
agree that the differences of several live perfomances or interpretations of one and the same piece of music are alot lot smaller than the differnce between a n y live thing and e v e ry stereosystem.
O.J.