There is no one school of Russian
Tchaikovsky conducting. There is the sinewy
Yevgeny Mravinsky approach, the lyrical
Kiril Kondrashin approach, and the modernist
Igor Markevitch approach, among many others. But if there is a central Russian style in
Tchaikovsky conducting, it probably belongs to
Evgeny Svetlanov. Take, as an exemplar, this late-'60s coupling of the master's Fifth Symphony and Hamlet Overture performed by the
State Academy Symphony Orchestra. For
Svetlanov,
Tchaikovsky is above all else a dramatic composer and he subordinates almost everything to the score's narrative elements. More than willing to bend tempos,
Svetlanov makes the most of the music's ebb and flow, pushing forward in developments, pulling back at climaxes, and relentlessly driving in codas. Part of the reason these performances sound so Russian, of course, is the quality of the orchestral playing. With searing strings, pungent woodwinds, blistering brass, and a first horn player who really knows how to work a vibrato, the
State Academy Symphony sounds like it could have come from no other state than the USSR. Though the recording is dim, gray, and boxy, the integrity and sincerity of the performances more than compensate for the limited sonics.