TCHAIKOVSKY

Overtures & Fantasies

 

1. Fantasy after Dante ‘Francesca da Rimini’ Op. 32

2. Overture-Fantasy ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (1880 version)

3. Waltz from ‘Eugene Onegin’ (Act 2)

4. Polonaise from ‘Eugene Onegin’ (Act 3)

5. Overture Solonelle ‘1812’ Op. 49

 

Antonio Pappano

Orchestra e Coro Dell’ Accademia Di Santa Cecilia / Roberto Gabbiani (Chorus Master)

 

Alongside his obligations at the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano is also Music Director of the Orchestra dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He originally went there as a guest conductor but discovered an affinity with the orchestra which he was only to keen to make permanent with his appointment in 2005.

 

Recorded live in concert at Scala Santa Cecilia, this album is a collection of some of the most beautiful and well known music composed by Tchaikovsky. Pappano was drawn to this music as it conveys the heart of the composer; through the sheer size of the music, its emotional depth and lyrical melodies.

 

A highlight of the album is the rarely recorded original version of the 1812 overture - arguably Tchaikovsky’s best known piece. This features chorus and a 36 piece military band (Banda Musicale della Polizia di Stato). As Pappano comments, you may never want to hear the other version again! The opening hymn for chorus is so emotive, the voices communicate so readily and you hear the typically Russian deep bass sound.

 

Other tracks featured on the album include the Fantasy Overture from Romeo & Juliet, and the Fantasy Francesca di Rimini, inspired by Shakespeare and Dante respectively. There are also two extracts from Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin.

 

With the BBC’s season on Tchaikovsky beginning January 2007 there is sure to be increased interest in this superb album.

 

EMI 3700652