Tchaikovsky: Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32

“The LSO under Collins provides balletic grace and drama. Van Beinum conducts the smoother-sounding LPO and Concertgebouw in engaging accounts of Romeo and Nutcracker.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2012 ***

“Decca's new Capriccio Italien opens with wonderfully resonant trumpet-calls (surely far more impressive than the Italian Royal Cuirassiers ever could have made them sound in their barracks for Tchaikovsky's benefit !) ; and indeed it continues throughout with recording of a very high standard […] Francesca da Rimini [is notable for the] warm quality of recording … seldom can a gong have sounded more menacing than at the beginning here … this Francesca quite certainly must have [an] unhesitating recommendation” Gramophone Magazine

“Everything Eduard van Beinum recorded was distinctive … the electricity and finesse of the performances is never in doubt … The Nutcracker is beautifully played and … the ear is taken by the neat, scaled down effect of the Overture, the gentle delicacy of the Sugar-Plum Fairy and the elegance of the lovely Waltz of the flowers, with ripe horns and resonant cello playing.” Gramophone Magazine

“Details are invariably surprising...Rubatos, too, are elegantly turned, the phrasing eminently pianistic in that it is so quick of reflex. Of course, it takes an orchestra of extraordinary dexterity to pull off these subtly shifting nuances - and the Russian National Orchestra is extraordinarily responsive. Their playing is chamber-like in inflection, just writ larger.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011

“As usual, the forces wielded in this live recording from Caracas approach the gargantuan: they include 17 trumpets, 15 trombones and a mere 96 strings. And again the playing quality is exceptional. Brass shining like gold; velvet, purring double-basses; gambolling woodwinds; killer percussion; violinists with 20 fingers, never afraid whatever the speed.” The Times, 6th February 2009 ****

“The playing packs a passionate punch, the aching pangs of the first movement delivered with palpable anguish, the outbursts charged with hot-blooded fury. Dudamel's pacing of the andante slow movement might tax any solo horn-player's reservoir of breath, but the youngster allotted the part here takes it mellifluously in his stride.” The Telegraph, 18th February 2009

“Though Gustavo Dudamel's achievements with his remarkable young Venezuelans may be one of the musical wonders of our time, their charisma seems to work far better live than on disc. The collection released last year was a wonderful memento of the Simón Bolívar's performances of the same pieces in concert, but their earlier recording of Mahler and Beethoven symphonies with Dudamel had been much less convincing. Though this latest Tchaikovsky release has moments of huge excitement, it doesn't begin to compete with the finest accounts of the Fifth Symphony already available. Predictably, perhaps, it's the finale of the symphony that shows Dudamel and his orchestra at their best, when they generate tremendous intensity; but until then it moves in fits and starts. The orchestral fantasy Francesca da Rimini fares no better, with the slower music under-characterised and other sections too brassily assertive. Dudamel's army of fans will get over it, of course, but he's a more satisfying interpreter than he allows himself to be here.” The Guardian, 6th March 2009 ***

“A sinewy, uninhibited Tchaikovsky Fifth - you'd expect nothing less from this source. Dudamel and his young players feed on one another; the exchange of energy is extraordinary. As for the finale… the allegro vivace comes off the starting-blocks at such a blistering pace as to register a nanosecond of disbelief that such a tempo is even possible. But the real disbelief is still to come. To better this account of Francesca da Rimini you need to go back to Stokowski or Bernstein's underrated Israel Philharmonic recording. As if the descent into Dante's inferno isn't intense enough - Dudamel's pacing of this lengthy introduction is quite masterly - the whirlwind at its core glows white hot with astonishing virtuosity displayed from every department.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2009

“These are remarkably well-played accounts of the E minor symphony and Francesca da Rimini for a youth orchestra” Sunday Times, 8th March 2009 ***

“A sinewy, uninhibited Tchaikovsky Fifth – you'd expect nothing less from this source. Dudamel and his young players feed on one another; the exchange of energy is extraordinary. Tchaikovsky's impulsive changes of tempo feel more naturally impetuous while the phrasing is directly reflected in the sound: just listen to the yearning second theme of the Allegro con anima and the way that the sheen on the violin sound intensifies with the release.
But as with their famous Prom a few years back, it's not just the fireworks but the inwardness of this performance that brings the biggest surprises. The great Andante cantabile horn theme (so soft and consoling) emerges almost imperceptibly from the somnolent harmonies of the lower strings at the start of the movement.
It's like discovering Romeo and Juliet before the unwelcome dawn – the atmosphere is extraordinarily charged. And what sweep the Simón Bolívar string-players lend the second theme, not least in the climactic return. As for the finale – well, there's nothing like headstrong youngsters to reignite an old favourite: the allegrovivace comes off the starting-blocks at such a blistering pace as to register a nanosecond of disbelief that such a tempo is even possible.
But the real disbelief is still to come. To better this account of Francesca da Rimini you need to go back to Stokowski or Bernstein. As if the descent into Dante's inferno isn't intense enough – Dudamel's pacing of this lengthy introduction is quite masterly – the whirlwind at its core glows white hot with astonishing virtuosity displayed from every department. Then the loveliest of all Tchaikovsky's lyric creations brings a limpid melancholy from the solo clarinet – truly times of happiness recalled in misery.
And though Dudamel's tempo rubato in the string-led approach to the climax may not be as abandoned as Bernstein's, it's still pretty brave.
Hearing is believing in the coda as the trombones and trumpets tumble into the abyss.
Exciting? Deliriously so.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“A generous Tchaikovsky spectacular in masterly hands” BBC Music Magazine, October 2009

“With chorus added in the 1812 as well as the Waltz from Eugene Onegin, this is an exceptional Tchaikovsky collection, a fine start for Antonio Pappano's recordings with his Italian orchestra.
What is very striking is how refreshing the 1812 is when played with such incisiveness and care for detail, with textures clearly defined. It starts with the chorus singing the opening hymn, expanding thrillingly from an extreme pianissimo to a full-throated fortissimo.
A women's chorus then comes in very effectively, twice over, for one of the folk-themes, and at the end the full chorus sings the Tsar's Hymn amid the usual percussion and bells, though Pappano avoids extraneous effects, leaving everything in the hands of the orchestral instruments. It is equally refreshing to have the Waltz from Eugene Onegin in the full vocal version from the opera, again wonderfully pointed, as is the Polonaise which follows.
What comes out in all the items is the way that Pappano, in his control of flexible rubato, is just as persuasive here as he is in Puccini, demonstrating what links there are between these two supreme melodists. So he builds the big melodies into richly emotional climaxes without any hint of vulgarity, strikingly so in both Francesca da Rimini and Romeo and Juliet. Pappano is impressive in bringing out the fantasy element in Francesca, and in Romeo the high dynamic contrasts add to the impact of the performance. There have been many Tchaikovsky collections like this, but with well balanced sound, outstandingly rich and ripe in the brass section, this is among the finest.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Like the very best music directors, you can’t pigeon-hole Antonio Pappano. He may have made his name with Puccini but he’s got an instinctive feel for structure and for style that makes him good at most things. His Tchaikovsky doesn’t disappoint, full of vigour, of tunefulness” Gramophone Magazine