MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 5 in E minor (1888) [44:48]
Francesca da Rimini (1876) [24:30]
Russian National Orchestra/Mikhail Pletnev
rec. DZZ Studio 5, Moscow, June 2010
PENTATONE PTC 5186 385 [71:41]

Experience Classicsonline

In the spring of 1885 Tchaikovsky was exhausted, in despair and full of self-doubt. Then suddenly he was inspired to write his Fifth Symphony which he completed in less than eight weeks: four to sketch it out and three to orchestrate it.

I will confess that I had not visited this Symphony for many years. I know I was ‘knocked out’ by it when I heard it for the first time in my late teens. What excitement, what lyricism, and what wonderful tunes. Who cares that some snobs declared its second movement as vulgar just because one of its themes was borrowed for films and radio programmes. One of my fondest memories is of the 1950s Karajan recording that featured Dennis Brain as the horn soloist in that second movement. I stupidly let that LP out of my collection when CDs superseded LPs. I believe it resurfaced recently in the huge collection of Karajan recordings. If it was offered as a single CD I would jump at it - a hint for somebody?

To the present recording and straight to the point - that solo horn in the second movement. Alas it just does not compare with Dennis Brain’s heartfelt rendering; and the timbre of Pletnev’s soloist’s instrument, as so many Russian horns do, tends towards, if I may dare say it, a certain sourness. Pletnev’s second movement favours a dour countenance until it is lifted by that splendid noble march tune. The older ones amongst us will remember that this tune introduced the American documentary series The March of Time seen in cinemas between 1935 and 1951.

Despite my disparagement of the horn-playing it must be said that the virtuosity of the Russian National Orchestra is undoubted. This performance generally is very impressive. The strings glow, the violins have a gorgeous sheen and the woodwind are very expressive; the jubilant brass section sings out triumphantly in the finale in which Pletnev generates white heat excitement. The opening Andante thrills too, its drama well paced. The lovely waltz third movement is very successful: it lilts delightfully while the enchanting woodwinds and strings chatter and pirouette.

Turning to Francesca da Rimini, Pletnev draws a most sinister opening. This vividly suggests the descent into nether regions where Francesca and her brother-in-law, Paolo suffer unending and hellish tortures for their illicit love. Tchaikovsky’s magnificent tone poem offers not so much a detailed narrative rather a character study. Tchaikovsky’s diabolic vision of hellfire is thrillingly realised by Pletnev. In the central section, that ravishing romantic melody is spun out bewitchingly, the coy woodwinds singing out, tentatively as if Francesca is trying to resist her longing. The strings suggest Paolo’s insistent ardour before voluptuous harp and flute figures make temptation irresistible and their ignominious fate is sealed.

The Pentatone sound is first class.

A sizzling Francesca with a Symphony that’s also very good but which is spoilt by the delivery of that vital horn solo in the second movement.

Ian Lace

see also review by Brian Reinhart

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.