Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet - Fantasy Overture

“The virtues are self-evident: Dausgaard elicits some impressively accomplished and consistently bright-eyed playing, textures are sifted with watchful care...and his readings are abundantly musical, free of eccentricity and eschew any spurious expressive posturing...their innate good taste and sense of classical equilibrium never allowing the listener to forget for one moment Tchaikovsky's veneration of Mozart.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2013

“Tchaikovsky's textures are never problematically dense, but some of Dausgaard's tempi, especially his breakneck speed for the third-movement march, undermine the extra crispness the smaller-than-usual string section might have achieved.” The Guardian, 1st November 2012 ***

“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

“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