The debut CD release of The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Andris Nelsons since he became music director, will be in the shops from June 29 on the leading German independent label Orfeo.
The all-Tchaikovsky disc features studio recordings – made in Symphony Hall – of the composer’s tempestuous Fifth symphony, coupled with his Hamlet overture. This pair of works formed part of a sold-out Tchaikovsky concert last November. Future releases will include further Tchaikovsky symphonies, the first time that the CBSO has embarked on a cycle of this composer’s music. He is a composer to whom Andris Nelsons feels particularly close: “From an early age, Tchaikovsky was for me the composer who spoke to the soul immediately. When we perform and rehearse, I have a feeling that Tchaikovsky is next to us, Tchaikovsky wants to speak to each of us – audience and musicians – directly, to share his life, his trouble, his joy, his sadness, his personality.”
This summer the Orchestra and Andris will also be recording CDs of music by Richard Strauss (Ein Heldenleben and the suite from Der Rosenkavalier) and Igor Stravinsky (The Firebird, ahead of a performance at the BBC Proms, and Symphony of Psalms).
