Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 (TCO 0009)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5—The Cleveland Orchestra/Franz Welser-Möst (TCO 0006)
We have a pair of Cleveland Orchestra recordings this week, one that officially releases December 1 and the other made available last March. The just-in-time-for-the-holidays album is Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, recorded live in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center during two community appreciation concerts in the fall of 2021. Tchaikovsky said of this work, “There is not a note in this symphony which I did not feel deeply, and which did not serve as an echo of sincere impulses within my soul,” calling it his “best symphonic work ever.” This makes four new digital recordings from The Cleveland Orchestra this year, and the first of them, the Prokofiev Fifth—released in March—is the other album we’re featuring this week. If you’re bundling holiday gifts, the other 2023 releases are Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier / Berg: Three Pieces from Lyric Suite and Schubert: Mass No. 6. You can visit The Cleveland Orchestra’s recordings website for more information on all recent releases. This season happens to commemorate the centennial of The Cleveland Orchestra’s first-ever recording: Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, conducted by the Orchestra’s first Music Director, Nikolai Sokoloff and released in 1924.