Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 - Francesca da Rimini

Album review

There is no shortage of recordings of the Symphony No. 5 in E minor by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, so the discriminating listener need not settle for one that falls short of true excellence, however good it may be in some particulars. Such is the case with Mikhail Pletnev's multichannel recording for PentaTone, which for the most part is a respectable effort that has fine sound quality, but which is somewhat less than extraordinary. In such an audiophile presentation, one expects the Russian National Orchestra to be marvelous in sonority, deep in textures, and expansive in spatial dimensions to raise it above the levels of a merely good or satisfactory recording. Yet in spite of the resources at hand, considering that PentaTone has produced some of the finest SACDs available, it sounds about as good as one might expect of a CD, not a state-of-the-art recording. Pletnev's interpretation is lyrical and elastic, so the music sounds fresh and organically conceived, and the orchestra is responsive to the conductor's nuances. But this familiar work falls short of being exciting when it needs to be and seems to be a bit more studied than felt. (There is one unfortunate passage in the Finale where Pletnev indulges in a ritardando that slows down to a farcical sostenuto, showing bad taste.)The filler work, Francesca da Rimini, is played with melodramatic flair and flexibility, but again, the sound is nothing special for a collectors' package.

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