Tchaikovsky Voyevoda, Symphonic Ballad, S.Kochanovsky, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra

Tchaikovsky Voyevoda, Symphonic Ballad after Mickiewicz, Op.78
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra
Stanislav KOCHANOVSKY, conductor
28 March 2019
Tchaikovsky Concert Hall
Full concert here:

[fredrickroll]

To my mind, one of the most grievously underestimated works in the entire history of music! Tchaikovsky's own utter condemnation of the work (except for small parts of the middle section, which he rewrote for piano solo under the title Aveu passioné) remains one of the many riddles in his biography. True, large swaths of Voyevoda are brutal and cruel, but the middle section contains two of the most ravishing melodies he ever wrote! If this video cannot redeem the work from oblivion, I don't know what can. The scoring alone, including perhaps the first appearance ever of the celesta - is absolutely miraculous, and all of the varied repetitions are optimally well-taken; the work would be too short without them! The piece as a whole represents the quintessence of the uniquely extreme breadth of Tchaikovsky's expressive capacities: as in the Pathétique and the Manfred Symphony, utmost tenderness is directly juxtaposed to utmost violence!

[cassianodurandpinheiro]

A symphonic jewel! The use of celesta and bass clarinet creates an amazing sound effect

[pope]

This is the piece where Tchaikovsky employed the Celesta for the first time. A year later he incorporated it as a solo in The Nutcracker. So, the story that Russian audiences were in awe at hearing the celesta for the "first time" in The Nutcracker "wondering about its magical heavenly quality" is just a "cute" legend.

[minjaelee]

Another tchaikovsky's underrated masterpiece!

[edgargonzalesbutron]

Vivid interpretation of this monumental masterpiece! Tchaikovsky, the great musical genius touches us deep inside our hearts.

[musicjotter]

Holy cow this is some of the best orchestral writing I've ever heard. How come I've never heard of this piece before?

[cassianodurandpinheiro]

A touching outburst of brutal pain, comparable to that expressed in the Sixth Symphony, related to the great disappointment at the sudden break in his friendship with Mme. von Meck, which occurred at the time of this composition. After conducing the premiere, he collected the individual parts of the orchestra in great agitation, intending to destroy them, but was stopped by the director, Ziloti. Later he adapted the main theme for piano, giving it the significant title of "passionate confession" (Aveu Passionné). It was an event that brought him a lot of bitterness, but at the end of his life there was a gesture of reconciliation, according to a Von Meck relative's account to biographer David Brown. She couldn't stand the composer's death, dying a short time later. Their destinies were inexorably linked.

[josephyeh]

Beautiful !! One of the unsung works of Tchaikovsky ! Should be performed more frequently !

[fredrickroll]

This is a piece for which one has to read the score along with the music, if one can. Even the video doesn't reveal the unfathomable detail and subtlety of Tchaikovsky's nearly Impressionistic instrumentation (which was way ahead of its time) - but listening to Kochenovsky's masterful interpretation makes the finesses of the score unbelievably clear! One of the most unjustly neglected masterpieces (also by Tchaikovsky himself, after the premiere) not only among Tchaikovsky's works, but perhaps in the history of music altogether!

[fredrickroll]

A year ago, at the beginning of the lockdown, I was watching this splendid video almost obsessively - and now, on the occations of the anniversary of its entry into in my consciousness, I have returned to it - and it sets my pulse racing every bit as much as it did a year ago!

[VideOgameOgraphy]

that was epic! Gave me the chills! Prosta Klasna Krasiva!

[agapanthus]

Amazing that he destroyed the score....but the parts were kept and reassembled after his death!