Search - Leningrad Philharmonic, Mravinsky :: Schubert: Symphony # 8 - Unfinished; Tchaikovsky: Symphony # 4

Tremendous recordings

Joel Alan Fox | 06/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would not surprise many people to say that Mravinsky's recording of the Tchaikovsky symphony #4 is probably the best recorded (except perhaps by another of his own recordings). But I'm tempted to say the same about this Schubert unfinished. How is that possible?! I would have asked myself the same question prior to listening to this recording. After having listened to many more Mravinsky recordings since then, it no longer surprises me at all. Though the most available recordings of Mravinsky are of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, he was not a two-composer wonder. Nor even a Russian-composer wonder. His many recordings of Beethoven and Brahms are fantastic, along with dozens of pieces from other western composers, like this of Schubert.



I highly recommend this disc to even those who have never heard of Mravinsky before (though, how would you navigate to this page in that case?). Hearing his Tchaikovsky 4 in SACD sound is a wonder to behold. Every classical music lover should experience it!"