Tchaikovsky 4th Round-up

Okay, well, based on the overwhelming response to the Reader's Poll earlier this week, I guess there aren't too many fans of the Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony.  Not to worry.  In case you've never heard this work before and are interested in exploring a few of the more notable vinyl recordings to have been made, here are some suggestions: 

Columbia SAX 2357 (Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic), UK ED1 pressing, Stampers: YRX 1517-5/1518-9. A somewhat pricey choice (price range $28-355) but a decent performance with warm and slightly dark tubey sound, mid-hall presentation with nice hall acoustic (recorded in Grunewaldkirche, Berlin) and soundstage depth.  Dynamics can get pretty powerful on this one, but anticipate some loss of clarity, particularly in the strings and brass, when things build up energy.  Not that this performance gets that wild.  It's got drama but falls short of the more hair-raising Mravinsky recording.  Comparisons can be made between this earlier recording on Columbia and Karajan's later remake for Deutsche Grammophon, but since I don't own the DG on vinyl, I'll have to defer to someone else to comment.

Philips Hi-Fi Stereo 835 024 AY (Igor Markevitch, London Symphony), Dutch plum label pressing with "Hi-Fi Stereo" logo. A beautiful performance by Markevitch and the LSO with decent but not quite top notch sound overall. I could appreciate a nice and wide soundstage and good instrument separation (great clarity in the winds). Listening through very revealing headphones, I picked up a number of occasions in the second movement when the sound of the strings (particularly in the left-seated violins) was rather grainy, sacrificing clarity. That being said, the string pizzicato in the third movement was palpable and well delivered and was the perfect setting to pick up the hall acoustic.  The fourth movement was high octane but consistently marred by distortion at high volumes.  I need to get a copy of one of the later Philips reissues to see if any of these issues were resolved.  I suspect those have superior sound, which this reference recording deserves.

Deutsche Grammophon SLPM 138 657 (Igor Markevitch, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra), ?second pressing with blue tulips label. I don't have to say much about the actual performance. This one is legendary and goes to the top of my list with respect to performance and sheer passion of playing. If I had to pick one desert island recording of the Tchaikovsky 4th, this would be it. The final movement blows you away like no other recording. My VG+ copy unfortunately has a bit of low-level surface noise, but the music is still very dynamic. Yes, there is a bit of distortion at times, but the sound is mostly rich and full-bodied with clarity that still surpasses that of the Markevitch Philips Hi-Fi Stereo release. I was not expecting this of the LP and was pleasantly surprised. The first release of this album with the red stereo logo on the front has different cover art (green and blue front) and sells for a lot of money (mean $105 on popsike.com), but if you can find this one, I wouldn't pass it up. Curiosity lead me to compare this pressing to the 3 LP Italian pressed DG box set reissue (2721 085 with symphonies #5 and 6, I picked this up for $3.99). To my ears, this reissue cleaned up some of the distortion on the original but just sounded a little too clinical for me. I found myself actually preferring the warmer, more musical sound of the original, distortion and all.

Decca SXL 6157 (Lorin Maazel, Vienna Philharmonic), UK ED2, Stampers 3G/1W. The young Lorin Maazel recorded the entire Tchaikovsky cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic for Decca in the early-mid 1960s. Of the golden age era recordings of the work, this is one of the better sounding ones, combining quiet surfaces with strong dynamics, expansive soundstage, and clarity. The sound may just be a little on the bright side. Performance-wise, this one has spunk but I found it less musically involving compared to the Mravinsky and Markevitch recordings.

EMI ASD 3816 (Riccardo Muti, Philharmonia Orchestra), late color dog pressing, stampers Q2EA 6866-2/6867-1. Last, but certainly not least. Another reference recording, and hands down, the best sounding of all the recordings listed here. The sonics are natural and well balanced with really great dynamic range. Finally, a recording essentially free of distortion. Bass lovers will also rejoice as this one definitely has some serious bass depth. If you have any doubts, just listen to the beginning of the 4th movement. 




My vinyl verdict:

Best performance:
Mravinsky/Leningrad Philharmonic (DG)
Markevitch/LSO (Philips)

Best sound:
Muti/Philharmonia (EMI)
Maazel/VPO (Decca)

Audio setup: VPI Aries 1 turntable, JMW Memorial tonearm, Lyra Delos cartridge, Parasound JC3 phono stage, Musical Fidelity M6i integrated amplifier, Von Schweikert VR2 floorstanding speakers, Schiit Lyr hybrid headphone amplifier, Beyerdynamic T1 headphones.