According to Classics Today, Michael Tilson Thomas's recording of Tchaikovsky's First Symphony has long been considered the finest due to its "ballet-like" treatment of the score. And indeed, there's an element of danceability in his tempi and an irresistibly natural flow in his transitions. Thomas makes the swinging second movement sound like a soulful lullaby, aided in no small part by the richly textured string playing of the Boston Symphony.
