Strong and direct, relying for the most part on broad, steady speeds, Dohnanyi's reading of the symphony has plenty of weight and warmth, helped by rich, full-bodied Decca recording. What it curiously lacks is a biting sense of drama, the volatile element in Tchaikovsky without which the music tends to sit back too comfortably. With the Cleveland Orchestra Dohnanyi has directed outstandingly successful recordings for Decca of the last four symphonies Dvorak symphonies, which have many of the same qualities as the Tchaikovsky here, but unlike these performances they have an extra bite of urgency to compel attention.
In the first movement the playing is strong and precise, but there is a danger of it seeming too controlled when there is little sense of thrust, with pressing ahead in stringendo kept to the minimum. The closing section of the exposition (track 1, 7'52'') provides an obvious instance, with Dohnanyi adopting a very steady, weightily symphonic approach. I contrast there not just the Jansons version, which has provided a yardstick for me since it arrived from Chandos, but the recently reissued Maazel version with the Vienna Philharmonic of nearly 30 years ago, now reissued as part of a complete Tchaikovsky cycle in Decca's new budget-price Symphony series. That is far more biting and—perhaps surprisingly—more obviously affectionate, as in the coaxing treatment of the clarinet entry for the second subject, where the phrasing of Dohnanyi's clarinet is beautifully gentle but very plain (track 1, 5'30''). The whole symphony is extremely well played indeed, with the finale very fast and brilliant, but lacking something in rhythmic spring.
The Overture follows a similarly controlled pattern, almost a classical performance, with the Marseillaise theme clean and straight when it is added to the counterpoint (track 5, 5'26''). But I look in vain for the rush of adrenalin at the mighty conclusion, steady to the end without the grand broadening that the music cries out for. This is a disc for those who value above all a combination of weight and emotional restraint in Tchaikovsky.'