My classical albums list

Bach J.S: Sonatas and Partitas for violin; Podgers (Channel)
Bartok: Violin Concerto no. 2, Piano Concertos nos. 2 & 3, Concerto for Piano & Percussion, Rhapsodies for violin; Isaac Stern, Philippe Entremont; Bernstein; NYPO (Sony)
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta; Reiner; CSO (RCA)
Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta + Stravinsky's Apollon; von Karajan; Berlin PO (DG)
Beethoven: Symphony no.2 & Piano Concerto no.3; Richter (piano); Kurt Sanderling; Leningrad PO and Vienna SO (DG)
Beethoven: Symphonies nos. 5 & 7; Carlos Kleiber; VPO (DG)
Beethoven: Symphony no. 6 "Pastorale" + Schubert Symphony no.5; Karl Boehm; VPO (DG)
Beethoven: Symphonies nos. 6 & 8; Wilhelm Furtwangler; VPO (EMI)
Beethoven: Symphony no. 9; Furtwangler; Bayreuth Festival Orchestra (EMI)
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis; Harnoncourt; COE (Teldec)
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis; Sir Colin Davis; Bavarian RSO and Chorus (RCA)
Beethoven: Violin Concerto and Romances; Arthur Grimiaux; Sir Colin Davis; RCO (Phillips Eloquence)
Beethoven: String Quartets "Rasumovsky" and "Harp"; Amadeus Quartet (DG Eloquence)
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique; Charles Munch; Boston Symphony Orchestra (RCA)
Bruckner: Symphonies nos. 0 & 8; Georg Tintner; National Symphony of Ireland (NAXOS)
Bruckner: Symphony no. 2, 3 (seperate) ; Georg Tintner; National Symphony of Ireland & Royal Scottish National Symphony Orchestra (NAXOS)
Bruckner: Symphony no. 5, 6 ,7 (separate); Gunter Wand; Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra (RCA)
Bruckner: Symphonies no. 6 & 7; Bernard Haitink; RCO (Phillips)
Bruckner: Symphony no. 8 + Dvorak 8th; Carlo Maria Giulini; Philharmonia Orchestra (BBC Legends)
Bruckner: Symphony no. 9 (with fragment of Finale); Harnoncourt; VPO (RCA)
Brahms: German Requiem; Fischer-Deskau, Schwarzkopf; Klemperer; Philharmonia Orch and Chorus (EMI)
Brahms: Symphony. no 4; C.Kleiber; VPO (DG)
Chopin: Piano Concerto (+Grieg); Lipatti (EMI)
Debussy: La Mer, Nocturnes, Jeux, Rhapsodie; Boulez; Cleveland Orchestra (DG)
Debussy: La Mer, Nocturnes, Iberia; Munch; Boston Symphony Orchestra (RCA)
Dvorak: Symphony no 9 "New World" plus Czech concert pieces; Reiner; CSO (RCA)
Falla: Spanish Works (+ Chambrier Espana); Bernstein; NYPO (Sony)
Faure: Requiem + Lili Boulanger works; Nadia Boulanger; BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC Legends)
Haydn: Paris and London Symphonies; Bernstein; NYPO (Sony)
Holst: The Planets; Steinberg; Boston Symphony Orchestra (DG)
Mendelssohn: Symphony no. 4 "Italian"; Sinopoli; Philharmonia (DG)
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Italian Symphony, Herbrides; Bernstein; NYPO (DG)
Mozart: Requiem; Sir Colin Davis; BBC Symphony and Chorus (Phillips)
Mozart: Symphonies nos. 35, 40 and 41; Szell; Cleveland Orchestra (Sony)
Mozart: Great Mass; Sir Colin Davis; LSO (Phillips Eloquence)
Mahler: Symphony no. 1 & 9; Masur; NYPO (Teldec)
Mahler: Symphony no.2 "Resurrection"; Klemperer; Philharmonia Orch and Chorus (EMI)
Mahler: Symphony no. 3 (backup); Horenstein; LSO (Unicorn)
Mahler: Symphony no. 3; Boulez; VPO (DG)
Mahler: Symphony no. 3; Barbirolli; Halle Orchestra (BBC Legends)
Mahler: Symphony no. 4; Kubelik; Bavarian RSO (DG Eloquence)
Mahler: Symphony no. 5; Barenboim; CSO (Teldec)
Mahler: Symphony no. 5 & 10; Barshai; Deutsche-Junge Philharmonie (Brilliant)
Mahler: Symphony no. 6; Solti; CSO (Decca)
Mahler: Symphony no. 6; Mitropoulos; Cologne RSO (Great conductors IMG)
Mahler: Symphony no. 7; Boulez; Cleveland Orchestra (DG)
Mahler: Symphony no. 8; Horenstein; LSO (BBC Legends)
Mahler: Symphony no. 9; Giulini; CSO (DG)
Mahler: Symphony no. 9; Horenstein; LSO (BBC Legends)
Mahler: Das lied von der erde; Fischer-Deskau, Dickie; Paul Kletzki; Philharmonia (EMI)
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde; Mitchinson, Hodgson; Horenstein; BBC Northern SO (BBC Legends)
Mahler: Das Knaben Wunderhorn; Fischer-Deskau, Schwarzkopf; Szell; LSO (EMI)
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 2 & 3; Zilverstein; Abbado; Berlin PO (DG)
Rachmaninov: Symphony no. 2; Temirkanov; Royal PO (EMI)
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (complete), Scheherazade; Bernstein; NYPO (Sony)
Ravel: Alborado del gracioso, Bolero, La Valse etc; Bernstein; NYPO
Rossini: String Quartets (transposed for winds); Ensemble Wien-Berlin (Sony)
Strauss: New Year's Concert; C.Kleiber; VPO (Sony)
R.Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathrustra (+Holst's The Planets); William Steinberg; Boston Symphony Orchestra (DG)
R.Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathrustra, Burleske, Rosenkavalier waltzes; Reiner; CSO (RCA)
R.Strauss: Symphonia Domestica; Reiner; CSO (RCA)
R.Strauss: Four Last Songs, Metamorphosen, Death and Transfiguration; von Karajan; Berlin PO (DG)
Stravinsky: 150th anniversary album with Violin Concerto, Rite of Spring; Frautschi; Craft; Philharmonia (NAXOS)
Schubert: Late Piano Sonatas; Pollini (DG)
Schubert: Symphony no. 8; Sinopoli, Dresden Staatskapelle (DG)
Schubert: Symphony no. 9; Furtwangler; Berlin PO (DG)
Schubert: Trout Quintet, Death and Maiden string quartet; Curzon; Vienna Octet (Decca Eloquence)
Schumann: Symphony no. 4 + furtwangler symphony 2; Furtwangler; Berlin PO (DG)
Schoenberg: Gurrelieder; Boulez; BBC Symphony and Chorus (Sony)
Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony; Previn; LSO (EMI)

Scorching Tchaikovsky by Karl Bohm and Czech Philharmonic

Beethoven: Piano Concerto no.5 "Emperor"
Tchaikovsky: Symphony no 4. in F minor

Emil Gilels, piano
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Karl Bohm, conductor.



I ordered this from the net after reading this review here. Karl Boehm is one of truly great giants of Teutonic conducting in my opinion the greatest baton holder worthy to be compared alongside Furtwangler and Klemperer. Anybody who is familiar with his discography knows his repertoire covers almost exclusively composers of the Austro-Germanic tradition; R.Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner. When one hears Karl Boehm conducts Tchaikovsky 4th with Czech Philharmonic naturally a classical music enthusiast would pick up the CD immedietly for: it is unusual for him to conduct a work outside of his usual suspects; Mozart, Strauss to name. Secondly the Czech Philharmonic is under-represented on records as compared with its more illustrious counterparts such as Berlin, Vienna Philharmonics and Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam. The ensemble has a truly unique sound; it has some dark, military characteristic of Russian orchestras such as the Leningrad Philharmonic yet unlike it's counterpart the oboes for example are brilliant sounding. And the french horns, wow! The czech horns are flamboyant, yet distinctively mellow like the Viennese horns and you can hear that in the opening bars of the first movement, in my opinion the most memorable I've heard - period. Those notes announcing Fate is the most distinctive I've hears since Beethoven's Fifth.

Despite not a prominent Tchaikovsky specialist, Bohm highlights the architectural grace reminiscent of his ballet works especially in the quiet moments of the first movement and the whole Andante. Being a live performance, the dramatic parts are scorching and the last movement has never sounded so redemptive and victorious. The scherzo was the only weak part with the trumpet chords sounded a little shaky. Kurt Sanderling's Scherzo with the Leningrad Philharmonic remains my ideal, with it's cheeky piccolo solo and flawless trumpet chords.

That being said, I find the Emperor disappointing. It has got to do more with the engineering than the performance which made the orchestra sounded distant and lack oomph, especially in the bass department. Still the Adagio is one of the most gorgeous interpretations ever and judging from the bonus rehearsal footage, Boehm gave more attention to shaping the orchestral accompaniment for Gilels. I do not think still you would want to pass a simply electrifying Tchaikovsky 4th with a truly unique collaboration of artists.


Emperor:

Technical: 8
Interpretation: 9
Recording: 6

Tchaikovsky:

Technical: 9
Interpretation: 9
Recording: 10