Some of Leonard Bernstein's last concerts with the New York Philharmonic were among his best: Ives 2, the all Copland final program, and I'd have to say that this Tchaikovsky reading fits in there as well. All of the Bernstein recording's are different "views" of the piece, not neccessarily the definitive performance, to counter a review I read for another recording of the same piece. Here everything's very precise, and defined: the final trumpet at the end of the first movement, and the furious final Presto in the finale have never sounded so energetic. I've actually seen the NYPO do this piece twice (with Mehta and Masur), both very fine performances, but even on disc there is a lot of excitement that is found which usually only comes across in the concert hall. It reminds me a little of the Solti/CSO recording I heard a few years ago. The filler, "R&J", is gorgeously done (I'm actually listening to it as I write this) and the Philharmonic rarely sounds better. A very quality sendoff; it's ironic (looking at it now) that this CD was released just a month after LB died. He sould have been allowed to hear this concert again.
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