BaL 21.12.19 - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker

[Master Jacques]

This was my own reaction, too - and I'm usually in favour of performances that get a move on. Probably because I only listen to the work at around Christmastide, with an indulgent "sherry", I do want greater warmth and cheerfulness from it - which Previn provides in spades - which also creates a greater contrast with the battle scene than Gergiev achieves.

My case entirely, an annual ritual! This year I've shelled out a few pennies for the Ermler set, which I've never heard - it's due to flump through my letterbox on Friday, when Christmas cheer will probably be at a premium.

[visualnickmos]

I've tried, tried, and tried again to "like" the Nutcracker, but any affection for it, totally eludes me. Am I normal?

[Bryn]

I've tried, tried, and tried again to "like" the Nutcracker, but any affection for it, totally eludes me. Am I normal?

I think you may well not be.

[Petrushka]

I've tried, tried, and tried again to "like" the Nutcracker, but any affection for it, totally eludes me. Am I normal?

Why not play Act 2 alone? It is, in my view, superior to the First Act and is sheer, undiluted genius from beginning to end. It makes a fine second half to a concert as Rozhdestvensky used to do.

[visualnickmos]

I think you may well not be.

That's what I'm afraid of !

[visualnickmos]

Why not play Act 2 alone? It is, in my view, superior to the First Act and is sheer, undiluted genius from beginning to end. It makes a fine second half to a concert as Rozhdestvensky used to do.

Thanks. I will try that......

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

That's what I'm afraid of !

Oooooooooh, no! I think that being "normal" is something infinitely more to be feared!

[Bryn]

Oooooooooh, no! I think that being "normal" is something infinitely more to be feared!

[Dave Payn]

I do have a soft spot for Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, Vladimir Fedoseyev. I bought it as a download several years ago and keep returning to it. I doubt it’ll be considered so this may be the only mention it gets!

[Pulcinella]

All I have in my collection is this early BBC MM compilation of 'extended suites' from Nutcracker and Swan Lake: Ermler and Covent Garden.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tchaikovsky-Extended-suites-Nutcracker-Orchestra/dp/B00BHMFL9U/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=Nutcracker+ermler&qid=1576114448&sr=8-9

[MickyD]

A tantalising HIP taste of just the Suite from Jos van Immerseel:

[Bryn]

A tantalising HIP taste of just the Suite from Jos van Immerseel:

Have you listened to it? If so, how do you rate it? I’m off to vote, hoping to see a JC, other than the one whose birth is wrongly celebrated in a little under a couple of weeks’ time, as the new guiding light in the UK. I will try listening to the Immerseel via QOBUZ streaming when I get back.

[visualnickmos]

Oooooooooh, no! I think that being "normal" is something infinitely more to be feared!

Actually, that's my conclusion, too ! You're absolutely spot-on.....

[Bryn]

Have you listened to it? If so, how do you rate it? I’m off to vote, hoping to see a JC, other than the one whose birth is wrongly celebrated in a little under a couple of weeks’ time, as the new guiding light in the UK. I will try listening to the Immerseel via QOBUZ streaming when I get back.

Now listening to the QOBUZ CD rate stream of the 4th Symphony. Horror of horrors I find myself mainly concurring with David Horrowitz. Though glad to hear the instruments the composer knew the sounds and capabilities of, the performance does sound rather run of the mill. No wonder the CD option appears to have dropped out of the catalogue.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As well as the Previn version listed, there was a later digital version by the same conductor, this time with the RPO. It was my first CD recording of the work, but it doesn't appear to be available here, even as a download. Someone with more money than sense might wish to splash out on a used version - £72 on Amazon. But it can be bought from eBay Japan for £25.

It's interesting to hear the suggestion that it might be better just to listen to Act 2, because I've always found Act 1 to be the more interesting part. It's symphonic in the way of the final act of Swan Lake and much of Sleeping Beauty. The transformation scene sounds as though it might have been influenced by Strauss's Tod und Verklärung, premiered shortly before Tchaikovsky began composition of his final ballet.