This is one of the greatest recordings I know of this piece, and it is superbly done too. The Severance Hall acoustic comes out well, in addition to the fine orchestral balance. Szell separates the men from the boys.
Glad you like it! For some reason, whenever I listen to this recording, my heart goes a million miles an hour, and at the same time, it makes me cry too!!
Well, I’m not a HUGE Tchaikovsky fan really, but I’ll admit this is a stunning performance. The sound is incredible and the performance is super intense.
This sort of reminds me of the first time I heard Szell’s Schumann fourth. I knew the second I finished that I’d never find a better recording than that one. Same thing applies here.
A bit of a hilarious clarinet cack in the late 4th mov.