Thursday, June 14, 2012

Tchaikovsky: Symphonies No 4, 5 & 6 'Pathétique'


These three symphonies are Tchaikovsky's most popular by far - with equal doses of excitement and gorgeous melodies.

The Fourth begins with a brassy "fate" theme that flows into an extended yet stunningly concentrated movement. The Fifth, too, opens with a fate motive, but this time from the dark depths of the orchestra. The Sixth, know as Pathétique is the most inconsolable -- and beautiful -- of all. Emerging from even gloomier mists than the Fifth, the opening movement charts a path of psychological struggle and takes in one of Tchaikovsky's most achingly lovely melodies.


"All three performances convey an unfailing sense of dramatic imperative; all three display a suppleness of phrasing that comes from working with voices … In the Fourth Symphony, I am entirely sure that Pappano and his orchestra have crossed that indefinable threshold to achieve something exceptional." --Gramophone Magazine

“…Pappano has marshalled his forces with magnificent discipline and even surpasses Mravinsky in the intensity of some of his piano and pianissimo sequences. There's no more purposeful or varied Fifth on disc… Climaxes always blaze, with sustained tension keeping hysteria at bay...” --BBC Music Magazine, March 2007 *****

2 CD · MP3 320 · 296 MB

No comments:

Post a Comment