Track:
1. Symphony No 1 In G Minor
2. Symphony No 2 In C Minor
3. Symphony No 3 In D Major
4. Symphony No 4 In F Minor
5. Symphony No 5 In E Minor
6. Symphony No 6 In B Minor
Claudio Abbado spent considerable time with the CSO in the 1980s but rarely returned (so far as I know) after he was appointed as Karajan’s successor in Berlin. His complete Tchaikovsky cycle was a flagship enterprise for Sony, and yet the results divide listeners, some of whom categorically dismiss Abbado’s interpretations as boring and fussy, lacking in Slavic passion. I had casually bought into that judgment but decided recently to listen to the whole cycle afresh, leading to the following, sometimes surprising conclusions