David Bernard and his dedicated amateur orchestra continue their recorded traversal of the standard orchestral repertoire with this set of Tchaikovsky’s final three symphonies. These performances have tremendous spirit and some of the playing is extremely impressive. As is to be expected, the string sound is relatively underpowered, there are minor intonation issues throughout and at times ensemble can be a little tentative, especially when rhythms get tricky (often, in Tchaikovsky’s music, what appears to be played on the beat is actually off the beat), as at 9'09" in the first movement of the Fourth. But the principal woodwinds all acquit themselves admirably, and the music-making in the Fourth’s Scherzo and finale convey a sense of joy – note the affectionate phrasing in the lyrical passage at 2'30" in the latter.

The Fifth is quite passionate – just listen to the first movement’s white-hot coda, or to how the orchestra dig into the finale with audible gusto. The Sixth is also a fine performance with a good sense of overall structure and sensitive attention to detail. I’m fairly certain it’s the same performance that was released previously (3/18), although the booklet lists all three symphonies as having been recorded in early 2022. Either way, Jed Distler’s summation of that earlier release – ‘impressively elegant, thoughtful, well-balanced and sophisticated’ – applies here as well.