Symphony No.4, 5 & 6 - Daniele Gatti & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

ClassicsToday.com Review
"There have been some terrific new recordings of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony in recent years, including Barenboim's (Teldec), Fischer's (Channel Classics), and now this one, which just may be the best of all. Certainly Daniele Gatti's take on the first movement has few peers. It's an extremely quick performance–urgent, passionate, but also possessed of a wholly appropriate, balletic grace. So often this music sounds like an endlessly repetitive, chromatically moaning sequence, but here everything has shape and point, with no lack of drama. Listen to how, for once, the orchestra really flings itself into the recapitulation, or how much better the wind solos of the second subject sound when the tempo, and the tension, are sustained instead of relaxed to the point where the music simply sounds tired. It's a thrilling interpretation, one that gives the music a visceral immediacy and impact that justifies hearing it yet again. Gatti's approach also works extremely well in the second movement, which really is played "in the manner of a song"–a truly human pace that allows the melodies to sing as if they had words. It's just beautiful. There's plenty of virtuosity from the strings in the scherzo, and the finale is extremely exciting, with plenty of the necessary rhythmic acuity from the strings and woodwinds in their exchanges leading up the various appearances of the big tune. The playing of the Royal Philharmonic is very fine: they give Gatti 100 percent, both in the symphony and in the Capriccio Italien, which is every bit as fresh and exciting. Gatti whips the final tarantella up to a fine froth, but the excitement always makes sense and never becomes vulgar on the one hand, or simply efficient and generic on the other. In short, these performances have real personality. Harmonia Mundi's sonics are just perfect: as warm and natural as anyone could ask." David Hurwitz

Amazon Information
Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Daniele Gatti
Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr. (HMU907393)
ASIN: B000A8AXQI

Tracklist
01 - I. Andante Sostenuto/Moderato Con Anima Listen
02 - II. Andantino In Modo Di Canzona Listen
03 - III. Scherzo: Pizzicato Ostinato/Allegro Listen
04 - IV. Finale: Allegro Con Fuoco Listen
05 - Capriccio Italien Op.45 Listen




ClassicsToday.com Review
"Daniele Gatti invests Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 with a freshness and vitality that belies its warhorse stature. The opening will surprise many listeners as Gatti abandons the usual somber approach (some conductors turn the intro into a mini funeral dirge) and employs a flowing tempo that picks up considerable steam in the allegro proper. Indeed, you'd have to go all the way back to Markevitch's 1966 Philips recording to find a similarly driven first movement. But Gatti also knows when to loosen the reins, as in the lyrical second subject where he gives the quasi-waltz an infectious lilt that never becomes cloying. The Andante cantabile begins in beautifully somber atmosphere, but Gatti soon stirs up the music's passion, hurling headlong into the movement's heartrending climax. Flowing tempos enliven the last two movements, with Gatti powerfully playing up the finale's dramatic episodes. On the whole this is a highly persuasive and involving account of the Fifth, with marvelous playing from the Royal Philharmonic, most notably the winds in the first two movements and the brass throughout. However, the rather low-level recording initially gives the impression of a performance that lacks focus and impact. Cranking the volume solidifies the sonic image and provides much needed presence. Even so, the distant, reverberant acoustic makes the timpani sound cloudy and diffuse, as if the players were using fur-covered mallets. Happily, Gatti's incisive interpretation overcomes these slight sonic imperfections. The conductor also finds success with Romeo and Juliet (recorded five years earlier in a different venue) which, although it doesn't match Bernstein or Muti for emotional intensity, nonetheless impresses through Gatti's free-flowing pacing and keen sense of drama. The balletic fight music and slightly cool love scene recall Pletnev in his better performances (the Virgin Classics Tchaikovsky Sixth), and the precision of the playing and care with dynamics add up to a refreshingly vital view of the work–light, but never superficial. This is a fine start, then, to what could well turn out to be an exciting and rewarding new venture for Harmonia Mundi." David Hurwitz

Amazon Information
Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Daniele Gatti
Performer: Martin Owen
Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Audio CD (February 10, 2004)
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr. (HMU907381)
ASIN: B00015WMFA

Tracklist
01 - I. Andante - Allegro Con Anima Listen
02 - II. Andante Catabile, Con Alcuna Licenza - Moderato Con Anima Listen
03 - III. Valse: Allegro Moderato Listen
04 - IV. Finale: Andante Maestoso - Allegro Vivace - Molto Vivace Listen
05 - Fantasy Overture Listen




ClassicsToday.com Review
"Daniele Gatti's Tchaikovsky has everything: passion, precision, and a real interpretive point of view. Given the erratic quality of his previous releases for Conifer, it's very satisfying to hear this conductor comfortably in his element, in multiple releases, working with a label prepared to do him justice both sonically and commercially. If you enjoyed his outstanding Tchaikovsky Fourth, then you'll find this new Sixth equally appealing, for it bespeaks very much the same interpretive sensibility. To help you get a sense of the interpretation (assuming that you're a Pathétique maven), the version this newcomer most resembles is Pletnev's first recording for Virgin Classics, the one that caused such a stir when it was first released and that seemed to show, wrongly as it turned out, that Pletnev could conduct as interestingly as he plays the piano. In short, this is a swift, balletic reading–but you shouldn't push the similarities too far, because fine as that earlier recording was, Gatti is a much more accomplished conductor generally. He begins the first movement at a flowing tempo, a clear indication that forward momentum never will be sacrificed in order to exaggerate the music's already extreme emotionalism. The allegro begins correctly as a real, agitated allegro, and it picks up steam naturally and inexorably. In the lyrical second subject Gatti builds tension through rhythmic control and careful balancing of the surging accompaniment rather than by slowing down and making a climax of every phrase. His approach, in other words, is very Italianate, which is exactly right since Tchaikovsky's technique here comes straight from Italian opera (Mahler also said so in considering this symphony). There's a tendency in this movement for conductors to exaggerate its sectional divisions (first and second subjects, development, recap, etc.) and play each as an independent unit. But the trick, of course, lies in creating unity out of diversity, and that's where Gatti is so strong. The raging development is certainly ferocious, but Gatti understands that the real climax comes at the great exordium in the recapitulation that leads back to the second subject, and he never loses sight of his ultimate goal. He achieves this culmination not by halving the tempo and drowning everyone in timpani and trombones, but by maintaining the music's basic pulse, which allows the brass section to connect its phrases in one huge arch of musical pathos. When the second subject returns, we now can hear that Gatti has reserved its most passionate repetition for the violins' last reprise, and so it comes as a genuine emotional reaction to the preceding tragic climax. The swift coda puts a noble stamp on a masterly interpretation. The second movement's fluidity and lilt result in an unusual emphasis on the lopsided, five-in-a-bar rhythm. It's rather remarkable how clearly this comes through at this graceful tempo, and how unnoticeable it can be when taken just a hair slower. Gatti also takes the brilliant ensuing march about as quickly as the Royal Philharmonic can play it (just a few seconds more than Mravinsky's Leningraders, which is saying a lot). There's energy aplenty, with really exciting brass contributions, but not a trace of vulgarity or coarseness. That makes the comparatively deliberate finale (almost 11 minutes) all the more devastating in its impact, and an effective emotional resolution to the entire symphony. It's very difficult to emphasize just how hard it is to play this piece well and achieve a just balance between form and content, structure and sentiment. Bernstein did it in his second recording (for DG), using very different methods, and Gatti does it here. It's a major accomplishment. The Serenade for Strings makes a very generous coupling, and once again Gatti's approach pays wonderful dividends in the form of a remarkably fresh, almost neo-classical first movement, an elegant waltz, and a vigorously folksy finale. He also understands that the third-movement Élégie is not a stand-in for the finale of the Sixth Symphony, and so he expresses its sorrow gently. We are aptly reminded throughout of Tchaikovsky's admiration for Mozart. In both stereo and multichannel formats the sonics present the orchestra in a warm, natural acoustic, with plenty of impact at the climaxes and an amazing dynamic range. When the bass clarinet before the symphony's first-movement development section really descends to Tchaikovsky's unrealistically if hopefully marked sextuple piano (that is, pppppp), you can actually hear it without any loss of the instrument's tactile presence. This is, in conclusion, a remarkable release in just about every way possible." David Hurwitz

Amazon Information
Conductor: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Audio CD (February 14, 2006)
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr. (HMU907394)
ASIN: B000E42MQM

Tracklist
01 - Adagio - Allegro non troppo Listen
02 - Allegro con grazia Listen
03 - Allegro molto vivace Listen
04 - Finale: Adagio lamentoso Listen
05 - Pezzo in forma di Sonatina Listen
06 - Walzer Listen
07 - Elegie Listen
08 - Finale: Tema Russo Listen