Tchaikovsky - Symphonies 1, 2 and 5

The Guardian 80

Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Vasily Petrenko
(Onyx)

With another symphonic series currently under way – devoted to Vaughan Williams, conducted by Andrew Manze and enthusiastically received – the RLPO has now launched a new one, also bursting with promise: Tchaikovsky, with chief conductor Vasily Petrenko. Two good spot tests of the early symphonies is how an orchestra plays the lyrical Adagio cantabile of No 1 Winter Dreams, or the delicious, jaunty folk melody in the finale of No 2 (Little Russian), before the whole work builds to a brassy climax. The RLPO excels in both. The much better known Symphony No 5, full of light, shade, intensity, yearning accentuation, is a fine addition to a busy field. Petrenko and the RLPO continue to make an exciting partnership.