At 38 minutes, Viktoria Postnikova’s Tchaikovsky First Concerto is one of the slowest versions on disc. What’s more, it sounds even slower! The first movement tempos drag, the pianist’s phrasing is clunky, and her rubatos, though well-intended, run themselves into the ground. Even a born guest conductor like Gennady Rozhdestvensky can’t get the Vienna Symphony to play this music less stiffly and unidiomatically, as they did for Herbert von Karajan accompanying Sviatoslav Richter. Moreover, the piano is balanced too far forward in the mix, to clangorous effect. It’s always nice to encounter the rarely heard single-movement Third Concerto, an underrated opus filled with ingenuous tunes. While soloist and conductor evoke an appropriate balletic drive, they are outclassed on every level by the Gilels/Maazel EMI version. For a Tchaikovsky One crackling with tigerish fervency, choose Argerich/Abbado. For poetry and lyric generosity, the 1958 Cliburn/Kondrashin has yet to grow old. But avoid this disc, unless you’re a diehard collector of husband and wife concerto collaborations.
