Tchaikovsky's delightful Souvenir de Florence has been poorly represented in the catalogue: the appearance of two new versions in close proximity is therefore something of a luxury. Both recordings use six solo strings, and such faithfulness to the composer's intentions is admirable, even though there's nothing particularly chamber-music-like about the writing, and Tchaikovsky himself admitted that he found the medium uncongenial. Transcriptions have been made for string orchestra without any suggestion of violence to the original.
I enjoyed the Camerata Lysy version immensely. Firm, articulate and warmly expressive, their playing communicates a strong sense of pleasure in music-making: the dactylic dance-rhythms of the Allegretto are finely pointed, while the violin and cello lines the the Adagio sing sweetly, the expression never sounding forced or over-indulgent. Technically, Camerata Berne need not fear comparison with the Lysy ensemble, but there is something rather studied about their interpretation. In the Camerata Lysy performance, the expression seems to well up from within the notes; here it has merely been applied to the surface—like make-up. As for couplings: the Camerata Lysy programme is completed by a sequence of late-romantic miniatures, all intensely nostalgic and melancholic in character, and culminates in an arrangement of ''Traume'' from Wagner's Wesendonk Lieder, in many ways the fons et origo of this sort of piece. It is all beautifully played, though this music can have a numbing effect on the spirits if listened to in quantity. Camerata Berne's coupling, the Tchaikovsky Serenade, makes more sense, though again I found the playing rather unappealing, and the recording sounds dull after the clearly focused and atmospheric Claves issue.'