Decca to Release Bychkov’s Tchaikovsky Project

courtesy of Universal Music Group

In 2016 the Czech Philharmonic, with its newly appointed Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov, began a recording relationship with Decca. The relationship was cemented with a project to record the full cycle of the symphonies of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The first album was released on October 14, 2016, coupling the Opus 74 (“Pathétique”) symphony in B minor with “Romeo and Juliet,” described by the composer as an “Overture-Fantasy.” As the project progressed, the scope was expanded to include the three piano concertos with Kirill Gerstein as soloist. This Friday that project will come to full fruition with the release of a seven-CD box set entitled simply The Tchaikovsky Project. As expected, Amazon.com is currently processing pre-orders for the new release.

I have long had an interest in getting beyond the concluding “big three” of the six numbered Tchaikovsky symphonies, all of which I fear are performed in excess with interpretations that do little to enhance appreciation of the composer. As a result, when PENTATONE collected its recordings by Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra covering not only those six symphonies but also the Opus 58 programmatic “Manfred” symphony, I was more than delighted to write about the release on Examiner.com. My most important observation at that time concerned Pletnev’s sensitivity to Tchaikovsky’s tempo specifications and their rhetorical implications.

Because Bychkov has been a consistent visitor to the podium of Davies Symphony Hall, I have had many opportunities to experience his talent as a conductor, both with the San Francisco Symphony and with visiting ensembles. All of that scrutiny over the years has made him one of my favorites. However, while, in the immediacy of “live” performance, he consistently knows how to mine every necessary rhetorical detail from the content of the text, that sense of immediacy does not emerge with the same impact in the recordings of the Tchaikovsky symphonies. All seven of them (including “Manfred”) are given dutiful accounts; but they lack the fire that Pletnev brought to his PENTATONE sessions.

The good news, however, is that the fire is definitely there when Gerstein enters the picture. Once again, we have a situation involving one over-played concerto and two ignored by just about everyone other than George Balanchine. The ballets he created were “Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2” (originally called “Ballet Imperial”) and “Allegro Brilliante,” named after the tempo marking of the only movement completed for the third concerto. I have long appreciated both of these ballets. However, many years ago I had an opportunity to listen to the second concerto (Opus 44 in G major) in concert with Bella Davidovich as the soloist; and I would give anything for that kind of lightning to strike again.

While waiting for that opportunity, however, I am more than pleased with the sparks that fly from Gerstein’s keyboard and the energetic supporting drive provided by Bychkov. The same can be said for the recording of the Opus 75 (third) concerto in E-flat major. For that matter, for all of its familiarity, there is a freshness that Gerstein and Bychkov bring to the Opus 23 (first) concerto in B-flat minor. These concertos may be the “lesser portion” of Bychkov’s Tchaikovsky Project; but the resulting performances are the ones that place the composer in the best possible light. Perhaps, as I become more familiar with these concerto recordings, I shall become more receptive to the interpretations of the symphonies.