If after hearing this superb 2008 Naxos disc some obstinate listeners insist on maintaining that the Manfred Symphony and the symphonic ballad The Voyevoda are lesser Tchaikovsky, it's not the fault of the performers.
Vasily Petrenko is a talented conductor who knows how to get the best out of a score and an orchestra and his honest fondness for the repertoire cannot be doubted. The
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is likewise a skillful orchestra with a polished sound, a tight ensemble, and excellent soloists. But though
Petrenko keeps things moving and the
Liverpool musicians keep things taut, Manfred and Voyevoda refuse to become more than what they are: evocative but episodic scores filled with banal themes, garish orchestrations, and turgid rhythms. So while those stubborn listeners might concede few earlier recordings of Manfred and the Voyevoda have surpassed this one, they might also acknowledge
Petrenko and the
Royal Liverpool cannot redeem these two lugubrious works from their less than exalted status in Tchaikovsky's oeuvre. Naxos' digital sound is clear and colorful, if a bit distant.