Tchaikovsky: String Quartet No 3

Advantages: Very exciting and powerful piece of emotional hysteria
Disadvantages: If you're obsessed with classical form and beauty, then this might just be too much

...to be taken seriously as forwarding their cause, and therefore his career suffered, most notably in the hands of Cui, the most ardent and influential critic of Russia. However, things were not always so. Enrolling into the newly founded St.Petersburg Conservatory after taking a job as a clerk in the St.Petersburg Ministry of Justice, Tchaikovsky was not slow in attracting the attention of Balakirev. Beginning with some smaller scale piano and string quartet works, Tchaikovsky's first, truly ambituous work came in the form of his First Symphony ("Winter Daydreams") of 1866, which almost caused him a nervous breakdown. This was followed by the opera The Voyevoda and shortly later by his first undoubted masterpiece, the fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet, the love theme of which Balakirev was particularly fond of. A lesser known work however preceded... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great music, great performances
Disadvantages: Unfamiliarity

...I’ve loved the Piano Quartet since first hearing it on R3. Written at Oxford as a teenager it is an astounding (and humbling) creation, which betrays its creators years if you can mentally re-score sections, such as the opening of the last movement, for a rock band – those pounding chords and short motifs are heavy-metal rifs for piano and strings! The ‘rock’ turns into ragtime at the end – not sure if that’s progress but it’s definitely fun! The rest of the disc will not disappoint – except for the teenager’s complaint (mine!) that it’s not loud enough!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Great passion, beautiful melodies, unrestrained romanticism
Disadvantages: The finale doesn't quite convince in it's purpose

...HAPPINESS, OR TRAGEDY? After the doom-laden confessional that was the Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky was finally getting more in peace with himself. His fame began to spread and by 1885 he was already considered a national hero. This time saw the maturation of Tchaikovsky's style from the more blatantly folk-song oriented works and the more youthfully turbulent ideas to a more mainstream and calmer drift. Following the Fourth Symphony came the Violin Concerto, the Second Piano Concerto, the colourful overtures Capriccio Italien (composed during his bright stay at Italy) and 1812 (with the famous cannon-fire finale), the subtle String Serenade, the elegiac Piano Trio, a couple of small operas, and the large scale Manfred Symphony, amid some smaller scale works, all predominately genial in character. In 1888, after getting over his fear... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful