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-- Sinclair Lewis
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sunday Classics preview: Easing our way back to Tchaikovsky
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Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra perform the second half of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture in the Royal Albert Hall as part of the 2004 Nation's Favourite Prom. Don't worry, we've got better performances coming up.
by Ken
In case you haven't guessed, Sunday we're headed for "A Very Tchaikovsky Christmas." There won't be much all that Christmas-y about it; mostly it'll just be our 2nd Annual Tchaikovsky Christmas Post.
I suppose there are people who snicker at what is surely Tchaikovsky's most-performed work, the 1812 Overture. Tchaikovsky didn't think much of it either, but in his case it's understandable -- it didn't exactly tap into his deeper creative powers. The nature of the piece, a musical reenactment of the Battle of Borodino, in which the beleaguered Russian army in 1812 routed Napoleon's seemingly unstoppable invading force (which had actually been stopped by the unimagined harshness of the Russian winter), pretty well dictated that for thematic material the composer would borrow familiar Russian and French tunes. It's understandable, then, that the composer regarded the piece as a commissioned trifle. But that anyone else would deprive him/herself of the piece's matchless pleasures seems to me an exercise in snobbery that's beyond me.
In the score Tchaikovsky himself provided indications for cannon firings and pealing bells, and nowadays "effects"-oriented performances thrive on adding not only those but choruses, fireworks, light shows, and anything else they can think of. The regrettable result is often to detract attention from the unadorned wonders of the piece. I thought we might start by hearing it "plain" -- meaning just for orchestra, since there's nothing "plain" about this classic performance. (Sorry, Bil, I would have loved to offer a shiny new recording, but I couldn't find one played or recorded half as well as this one.)
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