Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony has had precious few great recordings; luckily this is one of them. Lorin Maazel’s is a determined, rather than resigned, wanderer. Quicker tempos allied with sharp articulation in the strings and rhythmic crispness make for a taut and intense portrayal. This greatly enhances the first movement’s hysterical conclusion, with the brass and percussion satisfyingly prominent. The scherzo is taken at a relaxed pace, allowing us to hear more of the whirling woodwind’s individual notes, and likening the movement to Tchaikovsky’s contemporaneous Sleeping Beauty, though Riccardo Muti’s fleet tempos create more fantasy in his Philharmonia recording on EMI. Maazel leads a very flowing account of the Andante con moto, revealing its kinship with Berlioz’s Harold in Italy. The finale has all the excitement, energy and crackerjack rhythmic thrust needed to make it really fly. Maazel’s unerring sense of intrumental balance allows much of the usually obscured woodwind detail to be heard, and the return of the Big Tune at the end is thrilling, with the strings whipping up quite a frenzy before the organ epilogue. Included also on this disc is a red-hot performance of Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet overture, with trombones so pronounced that it sounds like Liszt–but this is more Tchaikovsky’s fault than Maazel’s. Throughout both works the Vienna Philharmonic plays with an urgency and raucousness one usually does not associate with this orchestra, the brass really stealing the show. The 1965 (Hamlet) and 1972 Decca recordings are clear but a little lacking in body and dynamic range. Thanks to Eloquence for making this fine Manfred available once again.
