Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.5/Romeo and Juliet - San Francisco SO/Tilson-Thomas
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 - MTT & the San Francisco Symphony audio recording
02:33
Classic FM Album of the Week, 25 May 2015, after 10am
Tchaikovsky believed that his Fifth Symphony was a failure, but despite this it has become one of his most popular works.
There are countless recordings of the symphony and it can be hard to know which to go for.
For a thrilling and brilliantly recorded version, look no further than this live performance from the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas. The conductor applies his trademark careful and faithful reading of the score while drawing deep on his Russian roots to bring out the full range of emotion and beauty of Tchaikovsky's writing, without resorting to overblown sentimentality. All of the orchestral colours shimmer and the memorable melody for solo horn in the second movement is very well executed.
As a bonus, there's the well-loved Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, which Tilson-Thomas treats with verve, drama and sensitivity in all the right places.
