Composer: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
Orchestra: Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg
Conductor: Aziz Shokhakimov
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Catalogue: 5419753851
Release: 2023
Size: 1.15 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
01. I. Andante – Allegro con anima
02. II. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza
03. III. Valse (Allegro moderato)
04. IV. Finale (Andante maestoso – Allegro vivace – Moderato assai e molto maestoso – Presto – Molto meno mosso)
05. Romeo & Juliet – Fantasy Overture
The debut Warner Classics album from conductor Aziz Shokhakimov and the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg.
Dedicated to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, featuring his Symphony No. 5 and Romeo and Juliet overture.
Listeners who enjoy Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, have their choice of readings, with interpretations to fit everyone’s taste by stars of the classical music scene. It takes self-confidence, or nerve, for the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, a fine regional ensemble but no Berlin Philharmonic, to enter the scene with its new conductor, Aziz Shokhakimov. As it happens, they produce a distinctive performance that will appeal to aficionados of the work. Shokhakimov is not Russian, but this is a performance of the work in the Russian tradition, highly subjective, with lots of input from the conductor. The tempos are fast and malleable, with a fast finale that aims for and largely gets a high pitch of excitement. Probably the strongest thing on the album is saved for last; the performance of the Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture is controlled, cohesive, and quite involving. In some places, this sounds like a live recording, with bits of background noise and a satisfying sense of hearing the conductor wrestle with the work, but nothing in the packaging suggests that it was recorded live. An intriguing Tchaikovsky Fifth that makes one want to hear more from the orchestra and its young conductor.