This completes an RPO trio of Tchaikovsky symphonies under music director Daniele Gatti. If the opening Adagio seems rather staid, slow and very steady, the Allegro brings a quick contrast in the lightness and resilience of the main theme. The span of the great melody of the second subject then enters after a pause of some eight seconds – daringly long, and some might say self-consciously so. The flexible rubato of the melody sounds rather studied at a slow tempo, but a total transformation comes with the shattering fortissimo to open the development section. From then on the performance is magnetic; Gatti has the full measure of Tchaikovsky’s white-heat inspiration. You can then see the relative reticence of the opening as a desire not to give too much too soon in this deeply emotional work.The five-in-a-bar rhythms of the second movement trip very lightly, and the third movement Scherzo is taken daringly fast yet, rather less than Pletnev’s reading (DG, 12/96R), it avoids any suspicion of breathlessness; the fortissimo entry of the main march theme enters naturally without an easing of tempo. The flexible rubato that Gatti favours in the Adagio finale sounds totally natural and spontaneous, though as with the second subject of the first movement he has an extended pause before the big melody enters, tender as well as emotional.

If my final preference is still for Jansons (Chandos, (5/87), at more flowing speeds, Gatti and the RPO hold a trump card in their exceptionally generous coupling, a warmly persuasive reading of the Serenade for Strings, which builds on the ripe resonance of the RPO string section, again with clear textures and articulation and a wide dynamic range. The Harmonia Mundi recording, made at the Colosseum, Watford, offers the widest dynamic range and brings out the clarity and articulation Gatti draws from his players. Altogether an excellent recommendation.