Muti and Koizumi both round off their series of the later Tchaikovsky symphonies in versions of No. 5 consistent with their earlier issues. The oddity of the new Muti is that though the first two movements have the disappointingly over-relaxed manners that marked his Pathetique (3/91), often with surprisingly slack ensemble, the last two movements are played with the high voltage one expects of this conductor and orchestra at their finest. I come to wonder whether that change of tension reflects the atmosphere of two separate sessions, the second much sharper than the first.
Where till now I have felt that Muti's new Tchaikovsky series is no match for his earlier Philharmonia versions, the last two movements here at least are clearly preferable, with none of the breathless manner in the finale which last time marred Muti's reading. The fill-up too is played at white heat, a powerful performance; it makes a rare and generous coupling. The sound, still not as clear as it might be, has warmth and weight to put it well ahead of most Philadelphia issues of recent years.
Koizumi's warmly expressive, spontaneous-sounding reading of the symphony has the same sympathetic qualities as his versions of Nos. 4 (4/92) and 6 (6/92), offering an account of the great horn melody of the slow movement from the RPO principal that is among the gentlest and most beautiful of all, far more sensitive than the Philadelphia one. Yet this time there is a mid-price rival which offers a far more distinctive performance of the symphony recorded in digital sound even fuller and more refined than this, Sian Edwards's on the rather cheaper EMI Eminence label. With such competition the RPO issue at lower full-price is not a serious contender, particularly when the ungenerous fill-up, Marche slave, brings a routine performance, quite different in quality from that of the symphony. Yet anyone following the Koizumi series need not hold back.'