Best recording of Tchaikovsky's 5th

Meech
Just to clarify are you recommending the Bernstein/DG or Bernstein/Sony 5th? Both are with NYPO

Gaudio_eek is spot on!!!! It is one of my favorite performance of the 5th as well.

As was said Gergiev with Vienna was pretty good, slow with fantastic orchestra performance and somehow unexpected form this conductor reading. Unfortunately it is available only on CD.

Certainly Mravinsky with Leningrad . Mravinsky recorded this work 11 times: 1948, 1949, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1982, 1983. From my prospective the most interesting was his recording in 1956 (mono recording home in Leningrad), if you need a stereo recording then go for the 1960 version. It was the version that “The_smokester” has mentioned. The recording took place in Austria (not London) Studio and the quality was more or less OK. The Italian pressing is widely available everywhere and 3 records should cost under $10.

Another wonderful mono recording, if you care about the real high-end, would be Koussevitzky with Boston recorded in 1944. It is not as mind-bugling and the Koussevitzky/Boston Tchaikovsky’s IV Symphony from 1938 but it is also very good.

If you find that the Mono recording is more interesting for this work then Stereo…. (This work is kind of gray, flat, decolorized and it works very good for me on mono. It dose not have the physical "musical space" but it's "spiritual space" derives from articulation of orchestra and the mini-fluctuation of the volumes… like many other pieces in Russkie music)… then you may try to search for Beecham and Celibidache with London (1938 and 1948)

That is pretty much it. If you are serious about this work then you might read some books about Tchaikovsky and about some events in his live that brought him to write this symphony. It is very possible than that you, would be able to view this work under different angle and discover your own sounds and motives within this music.

The 5th from a certain prospective is the most Tchaikovsky-like symphony of all and the period around of 1888 was a “special” periods in the Tchaikovsky creatively. You might in order to “get” the 5th “better” try to listen some other music that Tchaikovsky composed in that time. (The Sleeping Beauty, Mozartiana, Hamlet Overture, Pezzo Capriccioso, some songs, Dumka….)

Good luck
Romy the Cat

Thanks for all your suggestions guys. I have ordered the Gergiev and Mravinsky.
Paul

the mravinsky is very good. but... the mengelberg with concertgebouw is by far the best. he infuses this played to death piece with imagination, drama, color and makes it a really compelling listen.