Mariss Jansons's outstanding Tchaikovsky series with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra makes a welcome appearance in this boxed set, confirming all I have said about the individual issues over the last three years, It may still seem odd to those who have not sampled these consistently refreshing, beautifully paced and structured performances that the Oslo Philharmonic can so successfully match itself against the world's greatest orchestras, but the evidence here seems clearer to me every time I hear them and make comparisons.
Jansons in Tchaikovsky has the gift of conveying the full power and poetry of these works, naturally without indulging in wilful distortions or exaggerations. The whole set provides a bench-mark in this area, not only for interpretation but for brilliant and atmospheric recording quality too, against which others now have to be judged, including the distinguished rival sets listed that have been appearing on CD over the last few months.
What may disappoint some is that Chandos have not repackaged the Jansons series to make a keener bargain. The discs, pressed as for the separate issues, are boxed at a price which works out at seven for the price of five. On cassette Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 are coupled, making six cassettes instead of seven in the box.
Those who are looking for an outstanding bargain, one of the most enticing I can think of, need go no further than the Karajan set. All six numbered symphonies are squeezed on to only four CDs, selling at mid price. The minor snag is that Nos. 2 and 5 are broken between discs, but even there one is no worse off than with an ordinary LP. Unlike Jansons, whose set includes his superb version of the Manfred Symphony, Karajan omits it, never having recorded that programme work.
Karajan's discography reveals no fewer than seven versions of the Pathetique, six each of Nos. 4 and 5, but the ones here, dating from 1975 and 1976, are in almost every way, both for sound and as interpretations, the finest he has done, certainly far preferable to his more recent DG series made with the Vienna Philharmonic.
Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 and 3, dating from 1979 are Karajan's only recordings of those earlier works, but ones which saw him at his very finest combining high polish with freshness and lyrical spontaneity. There are points where he is clearly preferable even to Jansons (a Karajan devotee incidentally who counts the maestro as his most cherished mentor), as in the superb building of the final climax on the horn theme in the slow movement of No. 1. Many will also prefer Karajan's faster speed in the first movement of No. 2, where for once Jansons takes an unusually measured, if finely pointed, view. Though in the opening of No. 4 with Karajan, the digital transfer makes the brassy motto theme a little too fierce, generally these are among the best of his 1970s recordings from Berlin, fuller and more detailed than the digital sound on his Vienna versions of Nos. 4, 5 and 6.
Bernard Haitink also benefits from first-rate 1970s analogue sound. The recording of No. 4 still approaches demonstration quality, full and spacious yet detailed too. After the smooth persuasiveness of Karajan in Tchaikovsky, regularly using the most sophisticated rubato, the relative directness of Haitink, often allied to measured speeds, gives quite a different slant, strong and solid.
I have always enjoyed Haitink's refreshing accounts of Nos. 4 and 5, but the Pathetique, though recorded at the same period as No. 4, brings less sweet sound and a performance that is relatively heavy, even cautious at times. As in the Karajan set, the format, three symphonies on two discs, involves a break between the middle movements of No. 5. Unlike the DG issue, this Philips box comes at full price.
The Muti CDs are not in a box at all, with each symphony available separately. Generally presenting an urgent, intense view at speeds faster than usual, they remain strong and enjoyable readings, though my comparisons have rather highlighted their shortcomings both in the quality of the playing, not quite as refined in the string ensemble as in any of the other sets, and the relatively veiled recordings, also dating from the late 1970s, with the original brilliance a little muted in the transfers. Muti devotees need not be troubled, but at full price these don't strike me as particularly competitive.'