Essential Tchaikovsky

Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Performer), Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer), Lorin Maazel (Conductor), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor), Vladimir Ashkenazy (Conductor), Neville Marriner (Conductor), Valery Gergiev (Conductor), Zubin Mehta (Conductor), Charles Dutoit (Conductor), Igor Markevitch (Conductor), Nikolai Korniev (Conductor), Gabrieli String Quartet (Performer), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Philharmonia Orchestra of London (Orchestra), Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra), Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Orchestra), Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater Orchestra (Orchestra), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Montréal Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Gabrieli String Quartet
• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Philharmonia Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, et al.
• Conductor: Lorin Maazel, Herbert von Karajan, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Neville Marriner, Valery Gergiev, et al.
• Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (March 12, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B000060O5I
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,778 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #1 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Languages > Russian
  • #1 in Music > Classical > Chamber Music > Sextets
  • #6 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music > Marches

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cannot imagine a better compilation, June 6, 2009

By 

D. M. Paine "Renaissance Man" (Alexandria, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Tchaikovsky (Audio CD)

To me this is the best possible way to present Tchaikovsky in just 2 discs. Usually I hate it when a piece, like his Piano Concerto #1, is broken up, as you hear two movements of it in different places on disc 1. But in this package, the selections meld seemlessly, almost as if they were written to be played in this sequence.
All his great music is here, including March Slave which of course is a great way to close CD 1, and the best from his ballets, for which he is most famous. Let's face it only a hard-core would sit and listen to an entire ballet. A few excellent slices from his symphonies and tone-poems as well, especially the exquisit Andante Cantabile.
If you are on a budget like me, or just want to start learning about this eccentric genius, get this package. The next albums to purchase might be Symphony #4 or a set of short suites from his ballets.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the best, March 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Essential Tchaikovsky (Audio CD)

There's something for every Tchaikovsky lover on this disc. From Swan Lake to Onegin, many of Tchaikovsky's most-known melodies are on this disc. I'd have preferred more than an excerpt of the first movement of Piano Concerto No. 1, but this disc is a great introduction to Tchaikovsky's works.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not how to do a classical compilation, August 31, 2011

By 

A Dinosaur-Shaped Car "Homosexual Porn" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Tchaikovsky (Audio CD)

Some labels, like Philips, get "best of" releases right: they include a few whole pieces in their entirety rather than excerpts from a dozen different works. Compilations of little samples like this look more expansive, but you fail to get the full picture of any of the symphonies, concertos, string quartets, etc. by hearing one movement or less. Classical music is about thematic development, so it can't be cut up into little pop "hit singles" for the ADD generation and remain meaningful.

It's got the full Marche Slave, Elegy In G For Strings, parts of ballets that would be too long to include in full anyway, etc.--so it's not totally without merit, but it's not ideal either.