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Home , Christoph Eschenbach, Irina Arkhipova, Legend (Tchaikovsky), Leonard Rose, Marche slave, Maurizio Pollini

Tchaikovsky Considered

Tracks and clips 1. Introduction 6:10 a. Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il’yich (PT), No. 2 in G, Op. 44, , , , Columbia MS-6755 recorded 2/17/1965. b. PT, Symphony No. 4 in f, Op. 36, , , Phil. Orch. Priv. Label recorded 3/16/2006.* c. PT, , , Staatskapelle Dresden, , 0289 423 9592 3 GF 2 released 12/29/1988. ‡ d. PT, in a, Op. 50, Lyubov Timofeyeva, Maxim Fedotov, Kirill Rodin, Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga MK 417001 recorded April, 1990. e. PT, Symphony No. 5 in e, Op. 64, Christoph Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra, Ondine ODE 1076-5 recorded September, 2006. f. Ibid.

2. The Five 20:43 a. Cimarosa, Domenico, Il matrimonio segreto, , English Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Grammophon 0289 437 6962 4 GX 3 recorded 1975. ‡ b. Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich, Nochnoi smotr (The Night Review), Lina Mkrtchyan, Evgeni Talisman, Opus 111 OP30277 released 10/1/2012.◊ c. Dargomïzhsky, Alexander Sergeyevich, The Stone Guest, Andrey Chistiakov, Orchestra, Brilliant Classics 94028 recorded 1993. d. Balakirev, Alexander Porfir’yevich, , Deutsche Grammophon 0289 460 8312 3 DF 2 released 1/12/2004. ‡ e. Cui, César, Préludes, Op. 64, Jeffrey Biegel, Marco-Polo 8.223496 released 11/3/1993.◊ f. Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay Andreyevich, The of the invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, , Symphony Orchestra, Koch 3-1144-2-Y5 recorded 7/20/1995. g. Borodin, Alexander Porfir’yevich, String Quartet No. 2 in D, Wister Quartet, Direct-to-Tape released 2008. h. Musorgsky, Modest Petrovich, , Vladimir Vaneev, , Kirov , Decca 0289 478 3447 2 DMO recorded 1997. ‡ i. Ibid. j. Musorgsky, Modest Petrovich, Pictures at an Exhibition, , Artia ALP-154 released 1960. k. L’vov Alexey Fyodorovich, Concerto in a, Sergei Stadler, Andrey Chistiakov, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Manchester CDMAN 156 recorded 3/23/1986. l. Serov, Alexander Nikolayevich, Judith, Andrey Chistiakov, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Brilliant Classics 9219 recorded 1991. m. Rubinstein, Anton,Étude in C, Op. 23 No. 2, Earl Wild, Vanguard VSD-71119 released 1964. n. Rubinstein, Anton, Piano Concerto No. 2 in F, Op. 35, Joseph Banowetz, Alfred Walter, Slovak State Philharmonic, Marco-Polo 8223456 released 9/2/1992.◊

3. Peter Il’yich Tchaikovsky 50:47 aa-ag. PT, Fantasy– Romeo & Juliet (3rd. vers.), Christoph Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra, Ondine ODE 1150-2D recorded January, 2008. ah. PT, String Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 11, St. Petersburg Quartet, Sony SM2K 57654 recorded December, 1993. ai. Schubert, Franz, String Quartet No. 14 in d, D. 810, Vermeer Quartet Teldec 9031- 7478-2, recorded June, 1981. aj. PT, Vanya, Caroline Clemmow, Arthur Goldstone, Divine Art 25020 released 2002.‡ ak. PT, String Quartet No. 1 in D, Op. 11, op. cit. al. PT, Symphony No. 2 in c, Op. 17, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, RCA R204808 recorded 1/7/1976. am. Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich, Kamarinskaya, , Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Music & Arts CD-847 recorded 6/15/1969. an. PT, Symphony No. 2 in c, op. cit. ao. PT, Six Songs, Op. 38, , Ivari Ilja, Delos DE 3393 released 2009.‡ ap. PT, Six Duets, Op. 46, Irina Arkhipova, Vladislav Pasinski, Makvala Karashvili, 33-CM 01357-8. aq-as. Piano. at. PT, , Op. 31, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, RCA CRL3- 2026 recorded 2/17/1972. au, av. Piano. aw. PT, Marche Slave, op. cit. ax, ay. Piano. az. PT, Marche Slave, op. cit. ba. L’vov, Alexey Fyodorovich, God Save the Tsar, Valaam Singing Culture Institute Men’s , Russian RCD 29002 recorded 10/4/2011.◊ bb-bd. PT, Marche Slave, op. cit. be-bi. PT, Serenade in C, Op. 48, , Philadelphia Orchestra, Phil. Orch. Priv. Label recorded September, 1997. bj. PT, Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33, , Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Columbia MS-6714 recorded 11/15/1962. bk. Respighi, Ottorino, Gli uccelli, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Columbia MS-7242 recorded 1/26/1966. bl. Ravel, Maurice, le tombeau de Couperin, Mar. 68, , Columbia ML-4520 recorded 12/6/1951. bm. Stravinsky, Igor, Symphony of Psalms, , Festival Singers of Toronto, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Sony SM2K 46294 recorded 3/30/1963. bn. Schoenberg, Arnold, Suite für Klavier, Op. 25, , Deutsche Grammophon 0289 423 2492 3 GC rleased 4/5/1988. ‡ bo. PT, , Wolfgang Sawallisch, Philadelphia Orchestra, EMI CDQB5 55041 2 8 recorded 10/5/1993. bp. PT, Sleeping Beauty Suite, Op. 66, , Philadelphia Orchestra, EMI 50999 0 97999 2 9 recorded 2/25/1984. bq. PT, The Suite, Op. 71a, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, RCA DM 1020 recorded 1/10/1945. br. PT, , Valery Gergiev, Kirov Opera, Philips 442 796-2 recorded July, 1994. bs. Ibid. bt. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Die Zauberflöte, K. 620, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Karl Böhm, Philharmonic, Deutsche Grammophon 138 981/3 recorded 1965. bu. PT, Pique Dame, , Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sony 8869757712 recorded October, 1991. bv. PT, Piano Concerto No. 1 in b♭, Op. 23, Tedd Joselson, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, RCA ARL1-0751 released 1974. bw-bx. PT, , Op. 35, , Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Columbia MS-6062 recorded 3/23/1958. by-ce. PT, Symphony No. 6 in b, Op. 74, Christoph Eschenbach, Philadelphia Orchestra, Ondine ODE 1131-5 recorded October, 2006. cd. PT, Der Jungfrau von Orléans, Irina, Arkhipova, , Symphony Orchestra of All-Union Radio & Television, Melodiya CD 10 02053 recorded 1969. Many of these recordings are available as paid downloads; (*) HDTracks.com, (◊) eClassical.com, (‡) prestoclassical.com.

Thanks, Comments, Bibliography

I knew that my Russian pronunciation was going to embarrass me — I would be ashamed to show my face in public. Fortunately, Joe Zarett kept that from happening. Now it’s merely bad. My review board, Stacy Dutton, Al Lesitsky and Stan Scordilis, did their usual wonderful work. The difficulty for them was compounded this time by having to work under a severe deadline. My old friend, Ed Cohen, tolerated my ranting and raving about Tchaikovsky (as I referred to it on the ‘phone) for weeks. Familiar with deadlines himself, he was supportive in the extreme. I don’t know how Connie, my first listener, stands these projects. At least this time she loves the music.

When I was fifteen, I loved Tchaikovsky; but by the time I was twenty-five I had fallen out of love. I would almost always enjoy concerts of his music, but I kept thinking that it was really de trop. When Bob Hennessy, my father-in-law, died I inherited his library of cd’s. Among them were all Tchaikovsky’s chamber works except the Sextet, . Playing them, I realized how wonderful these pieces were. I had always known how accomplished he was, the most professional of professional composers, but these works were restrained. Then there were the — oh, so gorgeous and so enthralling because of the technical expertise that was so subtly exercised. And, every time I heard The Philadelphia Orchestra play his music, I remembered how much I had been in love: such beautiful sounds. I’ll never be able to adequately thank the musicians. Finally, a bang-up performance of The Maid of Orléans in Washington: I was a goner: head over heels in love again.

As I ponder my in and out of love affair with Tchaikovsky’s music, I’ve come to realize that part of the problem was the rationalizations as to why he wrote something. Who cares? It’s an absolute. Take it for what it is: contrapuntally flawless, instrumentally superb, harmonically ingenious, melodically seductive, structurally innovative: avant-garde! Hence this cd. I hope you like it.

About a week into this I realized how ignorant I was on the generalities of music in nineteenth century . David Brown’s comprehensive Tchaikovsky: A Biographical & Critical Study, W. W. Norton, NY, published in four volumes 1978, 1983, 1986, 1991 was essential. If I’d had to do all the analyses myself, I’d never have met my deadline. His are excellent. Nicolas Slonimsky’s Lexicon of Musical Invective, Critical Assaults on Composers Since Beethoven’s Time, Univ. of Washington Press, 1965 supplied the text of the Hanslick review. Alan Lomax, The Folk Songs of North America in the English Language, Doubleday, 1960, has been on my shelf, and in my mind, for over a half century. The holes that Brown quite rationally left out of his work were filled by the New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., Stanley Sadie, ed., MacMillan, 1980. wikipedia.org and the imslp.org were invaluable, for I found myself frequently checking this note or that. Finally, I needed a certain piece, I had to hear it, and I could not find it: .com, of course. From there it was not far to a legal recording — too bad, because the one that I found on youtube is still a better performance, but a horrible recording!

I’ve tried to use Philadelphia Orchestra performances where they were available. Unfortunately, a lot of the Russian repertoire has not been recorded by the Orchestra. I’d love to have Glinka’s Kamarinskaya, but I don’t think that it exists. The wonderful Ormandy Nutcracker Suite in clip bq on track 3, is far and away the best of his several performances and probably the best that I’ve ever heard. I just recently found the 78’s. The whole business of collecting recordings, particularly for endeavors like this, has been made much simpler by the on-line marketplace. It’s amazing what you can find on eBay. If you’re interested in old recordings, give it a look. The other great boon is the increasing availability of recordings available as paid, legal, downloads. It’s a lot easier and cheaper to find unusual things than it was when I first started building my collection in the early 60’s. Progress is not bad!

The only problem with the cd as a format is that, unlike a lecture, I cannot see the audience. I’d love to know what you think. Stop by my seat in Verizon Hall, K-101. I’m there for every Thursday night performance. If that doesn’t work, you can contact me through The Orchestra. I’d love to hear from you.

Mike Cone