Tchaikovsky: The Seasons, (Primakov, Pletnev)

Most pianists who play The Seasons do them a pretty big disfavour — you get the sense that they don’t take the pieces seriously, and so the suite’s melodic invention, its harmonic tangents and deliciously orchestral articulation, all get lost in a rather lazy sentimental soup. It’s easy to understand why this suite is played this way — we know for certain that Tchaikovsky didn’t really put much effort into them (he was more preoccupied with Swan Lake and Francesca da Rimini at the time), and they were composed to order (hence the rather odd title “The Seasons“ instead of “The Months“ — the title and epigraphs were provided by the commissioner.) Pletnev’s recording of the suite is rightly regarded as a classic — even a reference recording, and so I’ll not waste time lavishing it with even more praise. What I want to draw attention to is Primakov’s recording, because it’s both relatively unknown and (to my ear) some distance ahead of Pletnev’s.