Tchaikovsky penned this symphony in happier time of his life. It can be interpreted as his gratitude for the providence in his life by a super being. Many music critics opinionated that this symphony is most probably the weakest of his 6 symphonies although it won critical acclaim with the general public.
In literature speak this symphony can be termed as a comedy instead of a tragedy as the 4th movement or the finale ends with a celebratory or triumphant in the nature of a major scale. This symphony has also suffered a middle child syndrome as it as squashed between the beautifully crafted 4th and the mysterious and dark symphony No 6. The symphony does rise to the occasion on its own merit and popularity.
In addition, the symphony makes very good use of transposing the the movements alternating between E minor for the 1st movement, D major for the second movement and A major for the 3rd movement. The fourth movement or the finale has an interesting structure as it starts on E major, transforming itself itself into E minor and ends the symphony on E major. The transposition has been done beautifully especially for the finale as one can hardly hear the transposition unless one pays very lose attention to it. To me this is the brilliance of Tchaikovsky ingenuity as composers normally use transposition to attract attention but Tchaikovsky did it the other way round. In addition, this symphony has its signature melody began in the 1st movement to resonant progressively all the way to the finale.
Leningrad Orchestra has very strong connection to this piece as Tchaikivsky conducted the premiere of this work by conducting the Leningrad Symphony, Perhaps, this could be the reason why this orchestra has always been rated very well for this piece. Another interesting aspect of this piece happened in 1941 and midway through the concert for this piece in Leningrad, the Siege of Leningrad. In the midst of bombs being dropped on the city, the orchestra and conductor stayed on faithfully till the end of this 46 minutes symphony. Perhaps we should add bravery, martyrdom and call to battle,
I have the following recording of this piece as follows in order of my preference:
2.Mravinsky conducts Leningrad Symphony. Mravinsky is greater interpreter of Tchaikovsky symphonies and what could you ask for anything more as Leningrad Orchestra premiered this piece with the composer as conductor. Sonically not as good as on initial hearing as it was done in MONO but after a few listening, my opinion of MONO recording begin to change.
3.Karajan with Berlin Philmoniker because Karajan is also known to be a Tchaikovsky authority. You cannot fault his technically prudence approach to this piece tempered with a good dose of emotions.
I have acquired another version of this symphony in April 2009 as part of the Chandos 30th anniversary set. It is the well acclaimed performance by Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons. The piece has a good balance between good sonic quality being recorded in 1984 and the brilliance that Mariss Jansons breathe into this Tchaikovsky piece. It is now my facourite.
Peter Lye aka lkypeter