MUSIC AND DANCE

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4; “Francesca da Rimini.” New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Deutsche Grammophon 429 778-2. For the last time before the microphones, Bernstein wrestles with the anguished, pulled-about, explosive conceptions of Tchaikovsky that he pursued in his old age. Some of his ear-warping tempo fluctuations in the Fourth may make you cringe, but once again he somehow ties the entire quivering structure together, making the tired old rhetoric seem fresh again. From its turbocharged outer sections to its hyper-Romantic center, Bernstein’s terrific “Francesca da Rimini” must have blown the roof off Avery Fisher Hall in live performance.