Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 / The Voyevode (symphonic ballad), Op.78

Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky (Composer), Claudio Abbado (Conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Claudio Abbado
• Composer: Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000026EA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,211 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply the best, June 8, 2000

By 

Scott Taylor - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 / The Voyevode (symphonic ballad), Op.78 (Audio CD)

There is simply not a better recording of the 5th Symphony. Abbado drives the orchestra to brilliance in the 4th movement. The former-conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic is a great match for the Chicago Symphony on this disc. Such passion in music-making is a treat. Highly Recommended!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Performances, an Unusual Pairing, August 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 / The Voyevode (symphonic ballad), Op.78 (Audio CD)

I fully concur with the reviewer from Tallahassee and would add only a few observations to his comments. First, this is Solti's Chicago, playing with the kind of visceral excitement the Hungarian master so often generated and with all the technical polish the orchestra had in his day, especially the brass, incredible in the final harrowing measures of "Voyevode." Abbado-who, at his best, is one of my favorite conductors-is in top form here, bringing a special poetry to the reading, from the stirringly tender slow movement of the symphony to the manic climaxes of the last movement.

A plus is the pairing. While "Voyevode" is not a Tchaikovsky favorite, its program, which details a general's failed attempt to revenge himself on his unfaithful young wife (the general himself ends up dead as a result), offers an ironic twist on the doomed-love theme that Tchaikovsky exploited in his most famous tone poems. But there is no irony in Tchaikovsky's treatment. A galloping theme with relentless rhythms dogs the whole piece except for the love music, which itself is haunted and unquiet. The work ends with an overwhelmingly tragic coda. You'll note as well that it has hallmarks of the orchestral style of Tchaikovsky's very last compositions: the Nutcracker (note the prominent part for the celesta) and the Pathetique Symphony (the massive brass utterances). As such, "The Voyevode" is a tantalizing glimpse of where Tchaikovsky's orchestral muse might have led him had he lived.

Sony's sound is full and wide ranging. Though close, the recording has sufficient air to make that remarkable brass section resonate.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rethinking Tchaikovsky's Voyevode Opus 78, July 15, 2011

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 / The Voyevode (symphonic ballad), Op.78 (Audio CD)

Claudio Abbado's interpretations of Tchaikovsky's symphonies have always garnered favorable response from both the critics and the public alike. He is able to unleash the dramatic furor in these works without ever resorting to overindulgence. This performance of the Fifth Symphony is very fine, if not the best performance of Abbado's career. He does have the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a responsive stance and the recording, though now older and remastered, is still a fine one. But the recommended reason for adding this recording to the library is a very fine performance of the long neglected symphonic ballad, Voyevode opus 78. Earlier in his career Tchaikovsky had composed an opera by the same name but destroyed the score. The following bit of history helps understand the significance of this work: 'Tchaikovsky's symphonic ballad The Voyevoda is the least familiar amongst his series of free-standing descriptive orchestral works. It is also the shortest, by a margin of some five or six minutes, and although the conciseness of its two principal thematic groups and its resourceful orchestration have attracted interest from scholars and musicologists, The Voyevoda is hardly ever performed in public. Tchaikovsky began to sketch out the work in the latter part of 1890, and completed the score in the following year. The "Voyevoda" of the title was a Polish landowner, and the subject of a novel by Mickiewicz. A dedicated patriot, he had answered the call to arms in the cause of national freedom. Now, having returned home after defending his country in battle, he finds his wife in the embrace of a former lover. The Voyevoda thus decides to kill them both himself, but at the critical moment, it is he who is tragically killed by a bullet from his own gun. The morbid subject matter undoubtedly fascinated Tchaikovsky, and indeed, the omnipresent strand of malignant fate controlling human destiny is a familiar theme in a large number of his works, and one made more poignant, perhaps, given the facts concerning Tchaikovsky's own death. The Voyevoda, Op. 78, is cast for conventional orchestral resources, with the addition of harp and English horn. The work opens quietly, with a restless ostinato for cellos and basses heard above a throbbing tympani beat, all the while developing in volume and intensity, suggesting the Voyevoda's torment. A cascading second theme, later punctuated by stabbing unison chords, depicts his plan of action. Shimmering harp writing and an expansive wind melody part way through suggest moments of earlier happiness, but the obsessive ostinato figures return to haunt the Voyevoda, who pledges to complete his task. Trombones and tympani are employed to depict the fatal shot, before the work ends ominously.'

Voyevode may not have the flair and impact of say, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, or Hamlet, or Francesca da Rimini, but it remains beautifully composed Tchaikovsky. Abbado makes a fine case for this seldom heard work. Perhaps some day the piece will find its way back into the concert hall. Until then, this is a rare peek at part of Tchaikovsky's output we rarely hear. Grady Harp, July 11