CD Review | Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces (Reference Recordings, 2023)

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Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 & Schulhoff: Five Pieces
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Manfred Honeck, conductor
Reference Recordings

There are a great many pundits in the music world who are convinced that Manfred Honeck will succeed Riccardo Muti as conductor of the Chicago Symphony. Music historians will recall that Fritz Reiner, one of Honeck’s predecessors in Pittsburgh, went on to head the Chicago Symphony and make many recordings that remain classics to this day. But why would Honeck want to leave Pittsburgh? As demonstrated by the strength of this new recording, and numerous others that have preceded it, Honeck is already leading a first-class orchestra.

Honeck and the Pittsburghers absolutely sizzle in this new Tchaikovsky Fifth, played with hair-trigger precision and forward momentum. The result is meltingly beautiful, a great performance.

Also on this album are Erwin Schulhoff’s Five Pieces for String Quartet, orchestrated by Honeck and Tomas Ille. Schulhoff was an immensely talented Austro-Czech composer who died in prison in 1942, a victim of Nazi persecution. The performance recorded here confirms the composer’s originality

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