3 December 2009
The Sound of Music: Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake
Posted by andrew01pd2015 under: Strings!- Claassen .
Title of CD: Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (Complete Ballet)
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performing Artists: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Briefly discuss one or more major work on the CD and give your opinion of the work/s and the performance thereof on this particular CD:
Doubtless, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake is a ballet standard that continues to deliver the same unrestrained emotional grace and passion that it did two hundred years ago. Yet why is this particular masterpiece so timeless and magnificent to all who hear it, regardless of one’s age? Indeed, what makes this specific Tchaikovsky classic so magical?
The brunt of Swan Lake’s alluring personality lies within its instrumental genius. During the beginning of the work, a triangle is heard playing a light, somber tune: one that greatly resembles the tinkling of a music box. This sad, enchanting chorus continues to play throughout the piece, as additional instruments (the piano, violin, and flute, among others) gradually form the backbone of the composition. During the piece’s very conclusion, the triangle stops playing after a final ritardando, and the work ends with several final notes of the piano.
Dynamically, Swan Lake is not as impressive of a work, as a great chunk of it is played entirely in piano. In spite of this, a number of barely-noticeable crescendos and diminuendos help further accent the ballet’s dramatic points. Without a doubt, this Tchaikovsky masterpiece is a force to be reckoned with, and will continue to dazzle many in generations to come.
http://www.tapahtuma.tv/ClassicLive/uploadkuvat/1489_Swan_Lake3.JPG
