This is my first encounter with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. On the evidence of this excellent Tchaikovsky concert their ensemble is first class: the brass are particularly impressive and if the violins do not yet possess the smooth richness of tone of, say, the Clevelanders, they produce a bright, full timbre that certainly suits Tchaikovsky. The Arlene Schnitzer Hall in Portland proves an excellent venue; it provides fine depth and resonance and clean detail, and Tchaikovsky's fortissimos are given plenty of weight in the bass. Clearly the Delos recording team have found the right place for the microphones, for the overall perspective is convincing, yet wind solos are not too distant and the percussion are exciting without being overwhelming.
In the 1812 the cannon is perfectly placed and fired spectacularly, and precisely at the moments indicated by the score, yet doesn't blow the orchestra away! I state all this first because there are not too many first-rate versions of Tchaikovsky's spectacular celebratory overture, but this is cetainly among them and quite the best using a real cannon. (I'm glad to say it is a vintage reproduction, not one used against the British in the American War of Independence, for it sounds formidable!) The performance itself is exciting and infectious, the opening lower strings (four cellos and two violas) sing their Russian hymn eloquently, and the violins are soaringly lyrical in their melody, which offsets the busy, rumbustious allegro. This is nicely paced and not overdriven, although James DePreist's ritenuto before he prepares for the final peroration is rather less convincing. Still, this is undoubtedly a thrilling 1812 and certainly as a recording in the demonstration bracket.
The Tempest (1873) is still surprisingly little known and seldom heard in the concert hall. Yet its opening and closing sections depicting the sea are very evocative, using the horn superbly. The romantic theme depicting the love of Miranda and Ferdinand, with its ecstatic upward leap, is of the kind that insinuates itself into the memory and refuses to be dislodged. Perhaps its development is less sure than in the comparable passage in Romeo and Juliet, but then by nature Tchaikovsky was more comfortable with tragedy than a happy ending. The music descriptive of the tempest itself is somewhat crude, but as a whole the piece has more poetry than rhetoric and DePriest's performance is confident and sympathetic. The love theme is expansive and the melodrama is not shirked.
Hamlet, too, another elusive work, is splendidly done: this is unquestionably the most successful modern recording. The opening is powerfully incisive, and the main allegro generates a great deal of excitement, almost to match Stokowski's 1968 dell'Arte version in its drama and extroversion. Ophelia's theme is affecting, but the Oregon principal oboist plays simply rather than very imaginatively and more could have been made of the reprise subtly suggesting the heroine's loss of reason. However, this remains a fine performance and the vivid, full-blooded recording matches it: this is far superior to the old Stokowski version (which remains, nevertheless an essential acquisition for all Tchaikovskians).'