George Szell’s excellent Tchaikovsky Fourth Symphony, long absent from the catalog, has made a welcome return on several different labels, most recently Universal’s not overwhelmingly successful Penguin Classics line. Here, it comes coupled with a sensational Francesca da Rimini that has Maazel and the New Philharmonia in razor-sharp form throughout. There’s no dragging over the central narrative sections, and Maazel whips up the “hell” music at the beginning and the end to a fine fury–one of great versions of the piece, no doubt about it. But back to the symphony: Szell’s performance has tremendous energy and, as might be expected, more than average discipline. It also gets better as it goes, leading to a finale where the emphasis on clean string articulation at a smartly moving tempo produces genuine excitement without excessive bombast. Sonically, Francesa takes the palm, but the symphony comes off cleanly if with a tad more hiss than we’re used to nowadays (it dates from 1961). A real bargain.
