COMPOSERS: Tchaikovsky
LABELS: Sony
WORKS: Symphony No. 6 in B minor (Pathétique); Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture; The Voyevoda
PERFORMER: Chicago SO/Claudio Abbado
CATALOGUE NO: SMK 60126
Abbado’s is a direct, unsensational view of the Pathétique – at its best in the supple, bel canto handling of the first movement’s great melody (trailing an awesomely quiet clarinet solo), less impressive when the Chicago orchestra remains its usual cool and brittle self in anguish and grief. Romeo and Juliet is keenly shaped, but the more meaningful companion-piece is The Voyevoda, where the sudden demise of the protagonist foreshadows the death throes of the symphony almost note for note. David Nice
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor (Pathétique); Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture; The Voyevoda
Abbado’s is a direct, unsensational view of the Pathétique – at its best in the supple, bel canto handling of the first movement’s great melody (trailing an awesomely quiet clarinet solo), less impressive when the Chicago orchestra remains its usual cool and brittle self in anguish and grief. Romeo and Juliet is keenly shaped, but the more meaningful companion-piece is The Voyevoda, where the sudden demise of the protagonist foreshadows the death throes of the symphony almost note for note. David Nice
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:28 pm