Naxos's first traversal of the Tchaikovsky symphonies under Adrian Leaper and Antoni Wit is not an unqualified success, and this disc of the second and fourth symphonies is not as good as the one containing the first. The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra is still a (surprisingly?) good ensemble, where both brass and strings sounds full-bodied, and the woodwind solos are splendid. Still, the performances have the air of being run-throughs and sounds comfortably anodyne rather than exciting. The fourth receives the best performance, and the finale is genuinely exciting here. Sound quality is not perfect either, being rather subdued and not always perfectly balanced. So, while the performance of the fourth is recommendable with qualifications, the second is a little dull, and all in all this is no more than a worthwhile release.

This isn't an average recording and don't look at the cheap price...

especially, the performance of Fourth Symphony is very good...

with Antoni Wit's 5th Symphony recording (released on Naxos again) this recording is one of the best Tchaikovsky recording on Naxos.

Recommended...