Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique"

What’s immediately striking about this first recording from the Berliner Philharmoniker and its musical boss, Kirill Petrenko, is the astounding intensity of the playing. Every member of this great orchestra gives 100 percent in a work they must know inside out. Petrenko’s vision is a powerful one, the emotion drawn from the score, not overlaid for easy effect, and the strength of the work’s inner life is cranked up high. Each movement has a vivid personality of its own, yet the whole is wonderfully compelling and fresh sounding. A thrilling curtain-raiser for an exciting new era.