BaL 11.04.15 - Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

[Nick Armstrong]

Hardly surprising - have you seen his asparagus!

Yes

It's awfully pert

[Petrushka]

THIS one?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000026CM4/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=

Don't think it's been remastered though...

Yes, that's the one and thanks ts for spotting it on youTube. Don't know about re-mastering, Jayne, but it's the real deal for me in this work.

[Beef Oven!]

Yes, that's the one and thanks ts for spotting it on youTube. Don't know about re-mastering, Jayne, but it's the real deal for me in this work.

Is it Japanese?

[teamsaint]

Yes, that's the one and thanks ts for spotting it on youTube. Don't know about re-mastering, Jayne, but it's the real deal for me in this work.

I am in the middle of listening to it. ( tea break!)

I thought, well if Pet and JLW like it ,its bound to be good.

And it is absolutely fabulous , from the first note, completely gripped, so I am in your debt, both. Many thanks.

Totally recommended. Put me down for a copy of the reissue .

[vinteuil]

When I was at school, you weren't supposed to like Tchaikovsky at all.

... quite right too. It's all so obvious...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... quite right too. It's all so obvious...

...as is most music from the Baroque and Classical eras, but that doesn't weaken it at all.

Just out of interest, how much Tchaikovsky do you know apart from the ballet suites, R & J, 1812 and the last 3 symphonies?

[Black Swan]

I really don't think the music is 'obvious'. I am a fan and know the Concertos, Symphonies 1-6 and Manfred, the tone poems Romeo and Juliet, Francesca da Rimini, the String Quartets, Souvenir de Florence and piano music. So I know a great deal of this composers music. And I enjoy all of his music.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I really don't think the music is 'obvious'. I am a fan and know the Concertos, Symphonies 1-6 and Manfred, the tone poems Romeo and Juliet, Francesca da Rimini, the String Quartets, Souvenir de Florence and piano music. So I know a great deal of this composers music. And I enjoy all of his music.

Never worry about snide comments about Tchaikovsky. It's a relic of the days when it was regarded as "cool" to deride the composer. As with similar comments about Rachmaninov, the fashion has died.

[Nick Armstrong]

Never worry about snide comments about Tchaikovsky. It's a relic of the days when it was regarded as "cool" to deride the composer...

... or simply a genuine expression of another person's honestly-held opinion.

Either way: absolutely, don't worry about it!

[seabright]

The reviewer said that the first complete recording was made by Antal Dorati in 1964 with the Minnesota Orchestra and referred to the "antiquated mono sound." In fact it was recorded ten years earlier than she stated and was with the Minneapolis Orchestra, under which name the LPs and eventual CDs were issued. The orchestra was re-named later but Mercury stuck with the original name for its release of "Swan Lake." Also, it began its stereo recording in 1958. Surely someone at CD Review could have checked and corrected the script before it was read out over the air.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The reviewer said that the first complete recording was made by Antal Dorati in 1964 with the Minnesota Orchestra and referred to the "antiquated mono sound."

I wonder whether she even listened to the Dorati. It isn't absolutely complete, omitting some repeats (with 1st & 2nd time bars) and neither of the Supplements is included. But although the sound is mono, it's far from antiquated. The only reservation I have for this recording is the apparently small string section used.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

For me, the best of Tchaikovsky only works if it's played with white-knuckle hysteria by vodka-fuelled Russian nutters - cf. the last 3 symphonies under Mravinsky/Leningrad PO. Anything more 'refined' or 'pretty' and it's a total non-starter, for me.

That approach works for me in a lot of Russian repertoire... and I love it. I listened to the whole of the Svetlanov recording on Spotify today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Russian brass - glorious - but also very characterful Russian woodwinds too. Lovely to hear the Pas de six from Act III (cut at the ROH) and didn't miss the Drigo dross often usually inflicted in performance.

Marina F-W's style was a little unusual for a BaL and I think she could have covered comparisons of the playing in various versions, but I was glad to hear her dismissal of the 'happy ending' in some performing versions of the ballet. I thought it odd how she praised the finale of Gergiev's Mariinsky recording for being dramatic, but then ruled out the recording for not being dramatically played. Hmmm. (Too much Drigo for me in that recording... such a limp Act 4 in that version).

A pity that Mark Ermler's excellent ROH recording wasn't up for consideration, but I suppose it's not currently in the catalogue. Must look out the Rozhdestvensky/Melodiya version (I love his set of the symphonies).

[Keraulophone]

'...full-on NOISE!!!!! Gets my vote......

'The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes.' (STB)

[jayne lee wilson]

'The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes.' (STB)

Always hated that quote ... "we, up here, know what music really is. You lot, down there, just wallow in it. OH , how vulgar..."

[verismissimo]

Always hated that quote ... "we, up here, know what music really is. You lot, down there, just wallow in it. OH , how vulgar..."

The Scots must be musical geniuses then.