Rating this CD comes down to a split decision, favoring the magnificent performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1 in G minor, "Winter Daydreams," over the less inspired renditions of the orchestral excerpts from The Snow Maiden and Romeo and Juliet.
Neeme Järvi and the
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra are fully committed in the Symphony, conveying its youthful ardor and haunting poetry through tender, expressive playing, fluid phrasing, and finely shaded timbres. This compelling interpretation is almost ideal, though it is surpassed in color and mood by the truly magical performance by
Michael Tilson Thomas and the
Boston Symphony Orchestra on DGG. As captivating as the
GSO is in the opening work, it is less evocative and exciting in the four incidental pieces from The Snow Maiden, perhaps because this tiny suite lacks the substance and coherence of the Symphony, and seems like flat stock music when extracted from the full work. The performance of Romeo and Juliet is not as stilted or artificial, but it fails to ignite with real passion and fury, and only comes across as a competent run-through, with nothing to distinguish it from dozens of other routine accounts. This Hybrid SACD offers terrific direct stream digital sound.