Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky (Master Musicians Series)
$39.95
Although it has been well reviewed, this book is turgid, plodding, and pointless. The pointlessness is deliberate. Amazingly the author goes out of his way to state that his thesis is that an accurate and insightful biography of Tcshaikovsky CANNOT be written. He proves his point, which may satisfy him personally, but leaves the reader wondering why he wasted his time and money.

Tchaikovsky: Complete Symphonies
$48.98
Mariss Jansons isn't one of my favorite conductors and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra are far from one of the top orchestras, but this set of Tchaikovsky symphonies puts away all doubts I have had about Jansons and the OPO.

These are clean-cut, clear-headed performances. I view Jansons, in this particular cycle anyway, much like I view Riccardo Chailly. Chailly is outstanding in conducting with consistency and this is exactly what I would call this Jansons set: consistent. These may not be the most emotional performances you've heard (Bernstein comes to mind as does Temirkanov), but what I hear is one great performance after another without the emotional excess that plagues many recordings.

We can talk about the individual performances, which, for me, "Symphony No. 3," "Symphony No. 4," and "Manfred Symphony" get very special readings, but as a whole this entire cycle is great from start to finish, which can't be said of many complete cycles.

If you're looking for a solid Tchaikovsky symphony box set, then look no further than Mariss Jansons' recordings. After all, these are the recordings that put him on the musical map and I can certainly hear why.

25 Tchaikovsky Favorites
$4.98
This item arrived in the condition promised and was shipped quickly. I would recommend this seller.

Tchaikovsky
$2.98
Like other reviewers, I'm absolutely amazed at the price of this CD. For less than the price of a fast-food sandwich I've got two excellent performances of two great violin concertos. I didn't go looking for great performances; the finale of the Tchaikovsky concerto had been running through my head for three days non-stop because I couldn't remember how it ended. My CD copy had gone AWOL and I'd never gotten around to loading it on my iPod, so I came to Amazon desperate to find a sample track I could listen to and make the music in my head stop. I found this CD, and its price combined with the favorable reviews made the impulse purchase a given.

Please understand, this disc isn't just good for the price; the performances would still be excellent at two or three-times the price. The sound engineering is also very good, though not perfect. I noticed some harshness in the strings of the Tchaikovsky Allegro moderato movement as I drove in to work this morning. I finally pulled over to twiddle with the settings of my car stereo to see if I could smooth them out, but no luck. I've got it playing in my office now and the harshness is still there, but it disappears in the Brahms. And did I mention that the Brahms performance is my new favorite of that concerto? Bravo to Nathan Milstein.