Tchaikovsky - time to rehabilitate?

[Daniel]

Tchaikovsky seems as capable as anyone of imparting a near hysterical energy to his string writing, I feel there's a connection with some of Shostakovich's more frantic writing, both are thrilling and both feel like they surf the peaks and troughs of neurosis. He sometimes feels curiously like a slightly insubstantial substantial composer to me, some of the music can feel oppressively maudlin (something I'd never say of Shostakovich for example) but I enjoy his wildness, his compulsiveness and his rich melodic gift when the mood strikes, and am very glad he's there.

He certainly left his mark on composers like Sibelius I think.

[Richard Barrett]

He sometimes feels curiously like a slightly insubstantial substantial composer to me, some of the music can feel oppressively maudlin (something I'd never say of Shostakovich for example) but I enjoy his wildness, his compulsiveness and his rich melodic gift when the mood strikes

I like this description a lot.

[richardfinegold]

This was one of the works played at my first ever live concert in October 1960. I've always considered one of the composer's best constructed pieces, in perfectly executed sonata form.

I suppose the sumptuous orchestration will not please everyone, but when he wrote this work, Tchaikovsky was at the forefront of orchestration. But yes, the love theme on violas and English horn is particularly special.

R&J has been so overused here, in movies, commercials, and othe venues, that to hear the swelling climaxes immediately evokes a feeling of kitsch. None of this is the fault of the Composer and it is a bit of a challange to the modern day listener to put all of that out of their mind

[ahinton]

R&J has been so overused here, in movies, commercials, and othe venues, that to hear the swelling climaxes immediately evokes a feeling of kitsch. None of this is the fault of the Composer and it is a bit of a challange to the modern day listener to put all of that out of their mind

I can't say that I have a problem with that, although I know what you mean; I just accept the work as it was and remains and not think about what some people have done to and with bits of it.

[Richard Barrett]

R&J has been so overused here, in movies, commercials, and othe venues, that to hear the swelling climaxes immediately evokes a feeling of kitsch. None of this is the fault of the Composer and it is a bit of a challange to the modern day listener to put all of that out of their mind

I was thinking a similar thing about Schreker when listening the other day to the CD you recommended - at a couple of points I thought "this sounds like film music" whereas in fact it's film music that sounds like Schreker. With Tcchaikovsky, though, I strongly suspect it really is kitsch in this case - there will after all be a reason why it lent itself to all that commercial debasement - you couldn't do that with Schoenberg!

[pastoralguy]

Do members realise that there's a free concert from the Philharmonie mit Der Berliner Philharmoniker starting at 20.00?

Pinky Zukerman playing the Elgar violin concerto followed by Tchaikovsky 5!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

R&J has been so overused here, in movies, commercials, and othe venues, that to hear the swelling climaxes immediately evokes a feeling of kitsch. None of this is the fault of the Composer and it is a bit of a challange to the modern day listener to put all of that out of their mind

I find some Tchaikovsky works do inevitably lose their freshness with too many frequent hearings - the 1st Piano Concerto in particular - but Romeo and Juliet does not fall into this category. And surprisingly, 1812 wears remarkably well, in spite of the frequency I played my mono Dorati EP 45 rpm disc in my youth.

[jean]

Petrenko and RLPO win top prize at BBC Music Magazine Awards
9:00, 19th April 2017

Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) have won the BBC Music Magazine recording of the year award for their recording of Tchaikovsky’s first, second and fifth symphonies on Onyx Classics...

...Oliver Condy, BBC Music Magazine’s editor, described the recording as ‘an exceptional achievement – technically brilliant, passionate and utterly beautiful’, adding: ‘It amply shows why the RLPO is a world-class musical force to be reckoned with.’

[BBMmk2]

More Tchaikovsky! I played his symphonies nos. 4 & 5, conducted by Artur Rodzinski today. Fantastic monio recording and electrying playing, iir by the LPO?

[jayne lee wilson]

I was thinking a similar thing about Schreker when listening the other day to the CD you recommended - at a couple of points I thought "this sounds like film music" whereas in fact it's film music that sounds like Schreker. With Tcchaikovsky, though, I strongly suspect it really is kitsch in this case - there will after all be a reason why it lent itself to all that commercial debasement - you couldn't do that with Schoenberg!

Isn't it just as likely that few producers or music editors/directors have heard Schoenberg's music in the first place? And if they had, would have used it freely and repeatedly?...

Yearning/Redemptive Love scenes: Transfigured Night. Dream Sequences: 5 Orchestral pieces Op.16.
Voyage into Uncharted Waters which ends in death & bewilderment/Tragic Battle Scene where the good guys lose (slo-mo, with hints at redemption): Pelléas et Mélisande.
Arthouse Intoxications: Pierrot Lunaire.
Interplanetary Travel as Landing Module descends : I think you can guess that one...(soprano part rewritten for Ondes Martenot.)
"The Inner Real Life of Emily Dickinson" (story told in flashback and flashforward via poetic fragments on Twitter): Erwartung.

As for Music for a Film Scene....
I'm thinking.... multiple Car Crash on a California freeway, directed by David Lynch.... (series finale cliffhanger).

[cloughie]

Petrenko and RLPO win top prize at BBC Music Magazine Awards
9:00, 19th April 2017

Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) have won the BBC Music Magazine recording of the year award for their recording of Tchaikovsky’s first, second and fifth symphonies on Onyx Classics...

...Oliver Condy, BBC Music Magazine’s editor, described the recording as ‘an exceptional achievement – technically brilliant, passionate and utterly beautiful’, adding: ‘It amply shows why the RLPO is a world-class musical force to be reckoned with.’

The Onyx 3 4 and 6 are equally good as is the Naxos Manfred!

[BBMmk2]

I have his Naxos cycle, so why so soon is he doing another?

[visualnickmos]

I have his Naxos cycle, so why so soon is he doing another?

I agree - he is rather over-egging it!

I only have his 'Manfred' symphony (Naxos) which is of course, excellent, but there are many superb recordings of thos fine work, 'out there' - one of my particular favourites being that by Svetlanov...

[cloughie]

I have his Naxos cycle, so why so soon is he doing another?

He didn't do a Naxos cycle so the Onyx is New-laid!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

He didn't do a Naxos cycle

- I'm so glad you said this, cloughie; I thought I'd missed something!