Two Ormandy Recordings of Tchaikovsky 6 - a review

 

The Philadelphia Orchestra 

Eugene Ormandy, conductor

Columbia, 1960 (cover photo by Dan Weiner)

After decades of devotion to Soviet era Russian recordings of the Tchaikovsky symphonies, this morning I decided to give another listen to two versions of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6 ('Pathetique') made by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. The first was for Columbia in 1960, the second for RCA in 1969.

The Columbia recording was my first exposure to the piece as a boy: the photo above is of the very LP spun by me back in 1984 - and again this morning. 

Before I get into this recording, though, a confession: when I first heard Evgeny Mravinsky's Tchaikovsky 4, 5, and 6 as a grad student in the late '90s, the experience blew me away and swept every other set of records out of my mind for a very long time. I'd never heard such musical extremism in tempi, dynamics, feeling - every drop of Russian blood in my veins responded! It was like finding a lost heritage! From there I dove into the world of old Russian recordings with Rozhdestvensky, Svetlanov, Temirkanov, and others. Zubin Mehta's cycle with the Los Angeles Philharmonic from the 1970s remained a favorite of Western recordings, so sympathetic to Russian style and phrasing is Mehta. But I listened to very few others. Yet having recently reviewed Rostropovich's cycle with the London Philharmonic, I thought it was time to return to my first experience of these works. 

My immediately impression is that this is a recording that does great justice to the music of Tchaikovsky. Ormandy clearly knows and sympathizes with this music deeply. It's true there isn't the same musical extremism of the old Soviet era recordings, but there is a beauty of phrasing and depth of feeling equally as satisfying. There's no fussiness here, no over-conducting - the music unfolds just as it should. Ormandy's tempi seem perfect - everything expressed right in place. The third movement march has a stateliness that is almost entirely lost if taken too fast, for instance. The Philadelphia Orchestra sounds relaxed and able to give everything needed. The strings have that soaring quality so few orchestras got regularly, but that I associate with Ormandy's Philadephia recordings and Szell's with Cleveland of the same era - it's something you miss if you don't hear it every once in a while. 

The opening bassoon solo is played with feeling and nuance, and all of the winds and brass follow suit for the rest of the piece. Particularly warm are the french horns, and the clarinet playing is charged with subtle depth. Listen to the interior movement of the wind soloist's sound - this is more than playing in tune or in time, but a singing inner fluctuation that gives the phrase its meaning. Unfortunately, this is becoming more rare in symphonic playing these days - I wouldn't call it a lost art, but it might be if it's not recognized and talked about more often. This orchestra digs in and attacks when needed, but does everything from a place of purpose and expression.         

The RCA session dates from 1969, and was recorded at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Mine is a CD re-release from the late 1990s. It might be unfair to compare the two, vinyl and CDs being a kind of apples to oranges situation, but what the heck. Of the two recordings, I prefer the 1960 Columbia LP. There is a depth of sound and an even more concise expression in terms of phrasing. It just seems a richer, more natural performance. Both do justice to the music, but that Columbia record is my recommendation.