Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6. Scriabin: Symphony No....

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6. Scriabin: Symphony No. 4. Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti. Angel CDC 54061-2 (compact disc). The main attraction here is a stunning performance of “Poem of Ecstasy,” a specialty of the Philadelphia Sound’s architect, Leopold Stokowski, and the penultimate entry in Muti’s cycle of Scriabin symphonies. Muti gives this hyper-Romantic tone poem a shattering, glistening, orgiastic reading, laying off the perfume in favor of clarity and surging power. In strange contrast, the “Pathetique” is soggy in texture, leaden of rhythm--yes, even in the Scherzo-March--and, except for a decent Finale, emotionally uninvolving. Talk about blowing hot and cold . . .