…a delightful pairing of not-quite mainstream repertoire. Jurowski… keeps the bittersweet atmosphere of the Third Suite nicely in focus, and even suggests a certain anguish in adrenalin-fuelled climaxes…

Vladimir Jurowski here offers performances that are as near-ideal as one can imagine, the electric tension giving the illusion of live music-making.
We have had some impressive recordings from this Moscow-based orchestra in the past but this one is among the finest.
Tchaikovsky's Third Suite, with its final extended set of variations, can seem rather square under some conductors but Jurowski, maybe influenced by conducting opera and ballet, brings out the surging lyricism. So the opening 'Elegie' is warmly moulded without sounding fussy, the phrasing totally idiomatic. The rhythmic second-movement Waltz leads to a dazzling account of the Scherzo, taken at a genuine presto yet with no feeling of breathlessness, while the Variations have rarely seemed so attractive in their breadth of ideas, with a thrilling build-up and conclusion.
Stravinsky's Divertimento, its four movements taken from the ballet The Fairy's Kiss, may make an unexpected coupling, but it is apt and illuminating.
Jurowski steers a nice course between the romantic warmth of the Tchaikovsky sources from which Stravinsky took his material (songs and piano pieces) and his 1920s neo-classicism.
The delicate and refined account of the slow first section leads to sharp syncopations in the Vivace agitato which follows, and the chugging rhythms on horns in the most memorable section of the second movement show jollity in their springing step, while the pointing of contrasts in the final 'Pas de deux' brings yearning warmth in the big lyrical moments and wit in the faster sections. With exceptionally vivid sound, recorded by PentaTone's Dutch engineers in Moscow, this disc cannot be recommended too highly.

Tchaikovsky's Third Suite, with its final extended set of variations, can seem rather the square under some conductors but Jurowski, maybe influenced by conducting opera and ballet, brings out the surging lyricism. Stravinsky's Divertimento, its four movements taken from the ballet The Fairy's Kiss... is apt and illuminating. Jurowski steers a nice course between the romantic warmth of the Tchaikovsky sources from which Stravinsky took his material (songs and piano pieces) and his 1920s neo-classicism.