Tchaikovsky: Symphony No 6; Nutcracker - Suite [SACD]

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

...and distinctly external force that crushes our hope with brute force. In the Fifth, Fatum is not quite so overstated, but is perhaps even more terrifying. Here Fatum appears in the form of an idée fixe, a term coined by Berlioz in his Symphonie fantastique for a fixed idea that stubbornly reappears in every movement (a kind of precursor of Wagner's leitmotif). Rather than being a forceful entity appearing amid dreams of happiness, Fatum in the Fifth is more all-enveloping, intruding more subtlely into every germ of our mind. This makes the Fifth perhaps a more refined and less destructive work than the Fourth for casual listeners, but is no less powerful. MINOR CRITICISMS Tchaikovsky set to work on the symphony in May 1888, finishing the score in August of the same year. The work was premiered in St.Petersburg on November 17, 1888 under... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful, carefree winding melodies, memorable sequences, wonderful for the christmas season.
Disadvantages: Absolutely none.

...despair, he begun to believe that the composition was a mere plagiarism of others works, with only fractions of it being worth keeping away from the fire. However, he would not be deterred so easily - he decided to leave his first Piano Concerto unchanged. At the time, he was characterized as a rather un-Russian composer by his critics, being regarded as a favorer of more west European styles of composing. Tchaikovsky went on to produce such famous works as Swan Lake, which is regarded by some as the greatest ballet ever created. Aswell as his famed Romeo & Juliet overture, the Nutcracker suite. The Sleeping Beauty (which was also adapted for Disney's film of the same name) and also his countless concertos and symphonys that so charactarize his inventiveness and sheer adeptitude when it came to composing music of limitless beauty. He... Read review

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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

.... On a more positive note, 1877 saw the beginning of the friendship between Tchaikovsky and the wealthy Moscow widow, Nadezhda von Meck. She would become Tchaikovsky's most devoted patroness, pulling him out of his severe financial difficulties. Their relationship, however, was one of strange mystery. In accordance for a generous annual sum, she stipulated that they would never meet, conducting their relationship entirely through correspondence. Even during the very few occasions that they did meet in person, no word passed between them. Among the 1200 letters that passed between them, one of the first contained a detailed programme on his new symphony, where he would give free reign to all of his barred emotions and struggles. (Madame von Meck's later composer friends also included the young Claude Debussy who served as a pianist at her house... Read review

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