Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4

Franz Welser-Möst reveals a work very different from the usual dramatic and anguished Fourth, often said to mirror Tchaikovsky’s personal crisis following his disastrous marriage. With the opening fanfares grave and noble rather than startling and baleful, the listener is able follow every turn of the remainder of the first movement rather than be stunned and passive in the face of the usual heavy-handed style favoured by other conductors. In Welser-Möst’s subtle yet detailed account of that broad-spanned movement, its symphonic character becomes more apparent, suggesting how the Russian composer drew inspiration from the thematic coherence and cogency of Beethoven’s powerful symphonic essays. The Cleveland Orchestra plays beautifully, a highlight being the wistfully melancholic second movement with an immaculate opening oboe solo, the answer from full strings flowing and compelling rather than listless as in so many other performances. The “Scherzo” third movement, in which pizzicato strings are contrasted with purely woodwind sonorities, effectively segues into the exuberant finale, which has a genuine sense of release after so much restraint.