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Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Manfred Symphony; The Voyevoda (Vasily Petrenko)


Information

Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  1. Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58: I. Lento lugubre - Moderato con moto
  2. Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58: II. Vivace con spirito
  3. Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58: III. Andante con moto
  4. Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58: IV. Allegro con fuoco
  5. The Voyevoda (symphonic ballad after Mickiewicz's poem), Op. 78

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Date: 2008
Label: Naxos
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.570568

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Review

THE GRAMOPHONE CHOICE

A remarkable disc of Tchaikovsky’s ‘problem child’ – at a price that’s right

Petrenko’s Manfred emerges from the gothic greys of the opening wind chorale to vent his heartache in an emotive surge of string sound. And to ensure that we’ve grasped the measure of his despair, he repeats himself. Petrenko’s Byronic petulance makes something really stirring of the self-loathing – Tchaikovsky’s as much as that of Byron’s anti-hero. But the real miracle of this first movement is the vision of idealised love emerging so tenderly in what one might normally call the development. The palest clarinet against muted tremolando strings takes us directly to the heart of the matter, and Petrenko and his orchestra don’t disappoint. Likewise in the epic coda, where anguish is again writ large in overreaching horns and trumpets. No superfluous tam-tam, thankfully.

The dazzling apparitions of the second movement’s light-catching waterfall are sharply etched, and if Petrenko has a rather leisurely idea of what constitutes Andante con moto in the third movement, he can’t be blamed for loving this vintage Tchaikovsky melody too much. The playing, again, is lovely. Petrenko also keeps his head in the inferno of the finale, emphasising Tchaikovsky the classicist in the hard-working fugue. The “phantom” organ, though impressively caught here, gets no better, but is quickly forgotten amid the serenity of the final pages.

The opening pages of The Voyevoda seem to suggest a psychological summit meeting between Manfred and Hermann from The Queen of Spades. Its galloping obsessiveness ratchets up the torment again. The bass clarinet gives everyone the evil eye; no wonder Tchaikovsky tried to destroy it. This is impressive – and, at Naxos’s pricing, not to be missed.

-- Edward Seckerson, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Nov08/Tchaikovsky_Manfred_8570568.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Dec08/Tchaikovsky_Manfred_8570568.htm
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/n/nxs70568a.php
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=6396
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/oct/17/classicalmusicandopera-culturaltrips
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tchaikovsky-Manfred-Symphony-Rlpo/dp/B001F1YBUS
http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Manfred-Symphony-The-Voyevoda/dp/B001F1YBUS

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (25 April/7 May 1840 – 25 October/6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the romantic period who wrote some of the most popular music in the classical repertoire. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote many works that are popular with the classical music public, including his Romeo and Juliet, the 1812 Overture, three ballets, last three symphonies, the 1st Piano Concerto and the Violin Concerto. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky

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Vasily Petrenko (born 7 July 1976, Leningrad, USSR) is a Russian conductor. Petrenko studied conducting principally under Ravil Martynov, and also learned from Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Since 2006 he has been principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and is chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013. The contract between Petrenko and the RLPO is an extended open-ended agreement with no specific scheduled time of conclusion. He is noted for his recordings of Shostakovich symphonies on Naxos and Rachmaninov on EMI.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Petrenko

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