Ultimately Disappointing

'... the conductor seems unwilling to give himself over wholeheartedly to the music's affect.'

Evgeny Mravinsky's early-stereo recordings of Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies from circa 1960, licensed in the West by Deutsche Grammophon, long held a near-legendary status among collectors. (That they were long unavailable Stateside no doubt enhanced the legend.) Those recordings, which have become more readily available on CD, have provoked interest in the conductor's concert performances, such as this one.

Part of the older recordings' mystique came from their avoidance of sentimentality in this much-abused music...