Coda Finale

Swan Lake (Russian: Лебединое Озеро, Lebedinoye Ozero) is a ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, by Vladimir Begichev and Vasiliy Geltser was fashioned from Russian folk tales as well as an ancient German legend, which tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger. The ballet received its premiere on February 27, 1877, at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as The Lake of the Swans. Although it is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on January 15, 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. For this revival, Tchaikovsky's score was revised by the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre's chief conductor and composer Riccardo Drigo.

This is the second instalment in our series devoted to Tchaikovsky’s three great ballets. The first recording, of The Sleeping Beauty, was praised upon its release, described by a reviewer in American Record Guide as ‘one of the finest I’ve heard’. Here Neeme Järvi and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra present the complete version of Swan Lake, with the pre-eminent James Ehnes lending his magic to the violin solos. This was Tchaikovsky’s first full-length ballet, but its premiere in 1877, staged at Moscow’s Bolshoy Theatre, was by no means a resounding success. According to most accounts, the choreography was inept, the shabby sets and costumes were borrowed from other productions, and the orchestral playing was poor. Most ballet companies today base their productions on the 1895 revival by the distinguished choreographer Marius Petipa.

Pyotr Ilyitch Tcahikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in G minor Op. 13 “Winter Daydreams” ; Symphony No 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique” -
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Vladimir Jurowski
Classical | 2 CDs | EAC Rip | 425 MB (3% recovery) | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Complete scans | FP & RS links
Publisher: London Philharmonic Orchestra | Recorded: 2008 | Published: 2009

It’s a tribute to Vladimir Jurowski’s achievement here that there’s less difference in quality between the First and Sixth symphonies than often is the case. But if you heard his “Manfred” Symphony, then you already know that he’s one of the great Tchaikovsky conductors working today, and he has the LPO playing with a commitment and intensity that the orchestra has often lacked under its previous music directors… If you love Tchaikovsky, then you’ll love this release. It’s hot–really hot. - David Hurwitz; www.classicstoday.com

It says much for the intelligence controlling this performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Trio that only the final return of the grand lament churns and heaves as so much of the playing elsewhere could so easily have done in the wrong hands. Throughout the long, generous first movement of Tchaikovsky’s memorial to Nikolai Rubinstein, Kempf reins in his grander manner to keep the argument on the move; French violinist Pierre Bensaid and Armenian cellist Alexander Chaushian may not be naturally big players, but they know how to spin a line and lift it when necessary into the higher life. Everything tells when it should, above all the one truly inspiring melody in Tchaikovsky’s most personal vein which eases the tension of a keenly sprung development and fades beautifully into the most sensitively handled coda I’ve heard on disc.

Until the emergence of Mendelssohn and Schumann, the only symphonies to receive regular performances—beyond those of the three Viennese giants Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven—were those by Louis Spohr. In fact Spohr’s symphonies, as well as his overtures, remained staples of the concert repertoire until the general decline of his reputation towards the end of the nineteenth century. His generally acknowledged symphonic masterpiece, the fourth symphony, still cropped up occasionally in concerts well into the 1920s, but even this work soon joined the others in obscurity.
Keith Warsop

This fifth installment of the Michel Gielen Edition contains works by Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky. Gielen greatly admired these composers, whose works he frequently performed. We thus continue the editorial play for the Michael Gielen Edition. Volume 5 includes many first releases or recordings of Gielen from the 1960s and 1970s. Gielen is celebrating his 90th birthday in July, 2017. The album also contains a spoken section from Michael Gielen's last concert with his SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg in 2014.

Herbert von Karajan recorded almost everything in the standard orchestral repertoire once, many works two or three times, between his 1950s recordings for EMI with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the early 1960s for Decca with the Vienna Philharmonic, and his 1960s - 1989 recordings, mostly with the Berlin Philharmonic, for Deutsche Grammophon.