Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6 [Hybrid SACD] [SACD]

The result has the freshness of Karajan's mid-1960s DG recording (by far the best of his Pathetiques) and much of the Slavonic intensity of Mravinsky in his recording made at about the same time.

The live performance here was given shortly after the Beslan massacre, and a palpable sense of tragedy does inhabit the performance. Gergiev generally prefers fastish tempi, particularly in the central movements, which I like very much: often these two movements can seem inconsequential alongside the intensity of the opening movement and the tragedy of the slow finale (I often feel the same about the last two movements of Schubert's last piano sonata D960).

Here the waltz is played directly but with elegance, and the march in the typical Russian manner, at a brisk speed - for something rather less manic try Furtwangler's famous 1938 BPO recording, or Sinopoli on DG (one of the finest 'Western' performances).

But it's the outer movements that really separate the men from the boys in the Pathetique - and here Gergiev excels. The murmured opening of the work is superbly handled, but it is the entry of the second subject at 4'21 that at first suggests a truly great interpretation is on the cards. This theme is played with passion but a hint of restraint, whereas on its reappearance at 6'51 it is given with full power, played with an electrifying sense of tragic grandeur. There is a sense of spontaneity here that puts one in mind of a Mengelberg or Stokowki - one really does feel that the VPO is hanging onto the end of the baton (not that Gergiev uses one, but you get the idea...) The depth of tone at the VPO's disposal is wonderful to hear, as it is in the Finale, which is played with a compelling sense of drama and resignation.

Sonically this sounds very fine in multi-channel: the soundstage is wide and deep, with the orchestra sounding full and vivid. Some might feel that the vivid presence of the orchestra rather precludes a genuine pppppp when the composer askes for it, i.e. in the low woodwind just before the fortissimo crashing entry of the main allegro in the opening movement. Some bassoonists allegedly stuff their instruments with socks to achive this very quiet dynamic, but here the music only really goes down to ppp. But this is only a tiny flaw.

The rear channels provide suitable hall ambience (no instruments looming from behind the listener), although some might find the acoustic slightly too generous - it never becomes boomy or reverberant but one can sense (if you didn't already know) that the Musikverein is a big hall. I rather like the effect as it seems to add to the drama of the performance, as it does in some other VPO live recordings, especially Furtwangler's superbly intense and tragic Brahms Second Symphony from 1945, available on DG and Andante.

In stereo this effect is lessened, and the soundstage is narrower, but the power of the performance is hardly diminished. I'm going to give this 5 stars for performance, which I can't recall doing before, as I do feel that this interpretation is one of the best Tchaikovsky recordings available, in any format.