Tchaikovsky: Complete Suites

“Tchaikovsky's elusive blend of instrumental precision and free-flowing thematic fantasy in the Second Suite meets its match in the Detroit/ Järvi partnership: the conductor's imagination works alongside the lean, clean Detroit sound with interesting results. The strings aren't always the ideal: the lush chordings and central fugal energy of the opening movement, 'Jeu de sons', cry out for a richer, Russian tone. But the semiquaver patter is beautifully done, the lower lines clear and personable.

Keen articulation and driving force go hand-in-glove as Järvi prepares for the entry of the four accordions in the virile 'Rondo-Burlesque', sweeping on to the folksong of the central section with characteristic aplomb. It's in the Schumannesque phrases and the subtly shifting moods of the most poetic movement, 'Rêves d'enfant', that Järvi really comes into his own; the short-lived, otherworldly radiance at the heart of the movement seems more than ever like a preliminary study for the transformation scenes of The Nutcracker, just as the woodwind choruses look forward to that and Sleeping Beauty. The magical haze surrounding Prospero's island in The Tempest doesn't quite come off; here it's Pletnev (reviewed above) who surprises us with the true magician's touch, but then his Russian horns, and later his trumpeter, cast their incantations more impressively. Järvi is no more successful than any other conductor in stitching together Tchaikovsky's strong impressions of the play, though a little more forward movement in the love-music might have helped.” --Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 (On chandos 9454)