Moved by Mysterious Forces

** 1/2

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique,”

BEETHOVEN: onata No. 8 in C minor, Opus 13 “Pathetique”

Daniel Barenboim, conductor, piano; Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Teldec Classics

There are gadzillions of recordings of the two famous “Pathetiques,” but no one to my knowledge has put them together. Is it a good idea? As a vehicle for Barenboim, it’s a promotional coup. As an artistic statement, though, it’s a shotgun marriage since the two works, situated almost a century apart, have little in common besides their titles. Barenboim has now recorded the Beethoven “Pathetique” Sonata at least four times, and the latest is a solid, unexaggerated, moderately paced performance in which nothing goes awry but nothing leaps out and surprises you. His live Tchaikovsky Sixth is actually one of the better modern ones, aided by sensational playing from the Chicago brasses. Though Barenboim virtually erases the lilt of the 5/4 meter of the second movement with his smoothed-over phrasing, the arguments for the first and fourth movements develop plenty of force and emotion without spilling over the top, and there is just enough seething, flag-waving drive in the third movement. However, these are not benchmark performances.

*

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