Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. I. Adagio - Allegro con troppo
2. II. Allegro con grazia
3. III. Allegro molto vivace
4. IV. Finale - Adagio lamentoso
5. Marche slave Op. 31
6. I. Prélude in B major
7. II. Fugue à 4 voix in G sharp minor
8. III. Impromptu in C sharp minor
9. IV. Marche funèbre in A flat minor
10. V. Mazurque in A flat minor
11. VI. Scherzo in A flat

Disc 2:

1. Introduction
2. Danse des pages
3. Vision d'Aurore
4. Andante
5. La Fée-Argent
6. Le Chat Botté et la Chatte Blanche
7. Gavotte
8. Le Canari qui chante
9. Le Chaperon rouge et le loup
10. Adagio
11. Finale
12. I. Janvier (Au coin du feu)
13. II. Février (Carnaval)
14. III. Mars (Chant de l'alouette)
15. IV. Avril (Perce-neige)
16. V. Mai (Les nuits de mai)
17. VI. Juin (Barcarolle)
18. VII. Juillet (Chant des moissonneurs)
19. VIII. Août (La moisson)
20. IX. Septembre (La chasse)
21. X. Octobre (Chant d'automne)
22. XI. Novembre (Course en Troïka)
23. XII. Décembre (Noël)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #66964 in Music
• Released on: 2010-06-01
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

From Amazon.co.uk
Written just before his death in 1893, Tchaikovsky's Pathétique symphony is in many respects the first twentieth-century symphony. Listening to the emotional catharsis of the first movement, or the manic energy unleashed in the "Scherzo", it's not difficult to hear the (second world) wartime symphonies of Shostakovich and Prokofiev waiting in the wings. It's also a masterpiece in its own right, and Mikhail Pletnev's 1991 recording gives it a fresh leash of life. The highlight is an astonishingly rapid account of the "Scherzo", superbly played by the orchestra Pletnev himself founded. There's no lack of feeling elsewhere, though don't expect heart-on-sleeve emotion of the kind Tchaikovsky has suffered from so much. In its new coupling, you get a selection of Tchaikovsky's piano music: the Op. 21 pieces are probably more interesting to play than hear, but The Seasons is delightfully intimate music, while Pletnev is as imaginative an arranger as he is an insightful pianist in The Sleeping Beauty transcriptions. A successful compilation, well worth acquiring. --Richard Whitehouse