TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 1 Nutcracker Suite for solo piano Urasin Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fürst
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PYOTR IL YICH TCHAIKOVSKY 1840-1893 Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 [34 12] 1 I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso Allegro con spirito 20 38 2 II. Andantino semplice 6 17 3 III. Allegro con fuoco 7 17 (arr. Mikhail Pletnev, b. 1957) Concert Suite from The Nutcracker [16 01] 4 March (Tempo di marcia viva) 1 43 5 Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Andante ma non troppo) 1 48 6 Tarantella 1 08 7 Intermezzo (Andante) 4 08 8 Trepak: Russian Dance (Molto vivace) 1 07 9 Tea: Chinese Dance (Allegro moderato) 1 15 0 Andante maestoso 5 52 Total Playing Time 51 16 Rem Urasin piano Sydney Symphony Orchestra János Fürst conductor 3
Sergei Taneyev called Tchaikovsky s Piano Concerto No. 1 the first Russian piano concerto even before it was finished. Thus dismissing all five of Anton Rubinstein s concertos and both of Balakirev s, not to mention some others of lesser stature, this protégé of Tchaikovsky s was proclaiming his master s first composition in the genre as the benchmark for all future ones. It is not difficult to understand Taneyev s support of the work, even if it was overzealous. Indeed, so superbly wrought is it that even the subsequent piano concertos of Tchaikovsky himself are wanting in comparison. Their beautiful melodies notwithstanding, the second and third concertos lack the tautness and mastery of form that makes the first concerto so brilliant. No doubt this structural boldness was one reason that the concerto drew the now-infamous disapproval from the conservative pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, for whom Tchaikovsky played the work on 5 January 1875 (Christmas Eve 1874, according to the old Russian calendar). The concerto begins with a brief, dramatic fanfare that, while in the correct key of B-flat minor, leads directly to a majestic theme in the wrong key of D-flat major this theme is played three times in succession, then never appears again. No concerto had ever opened in such a seemingly miscalculated way. The scholar Eric Blom has called it one of the most baffling solecisms of any great composer. Why would Tchaikovsky usher in one of his most memorable melodies, only to then forget all about it? As it turns out, according to analytic studies done in the 1960s by Alexander Alekseev and later by David Brown, hidden in this theme are all the seeds from which all the major themes of the concerto germinate. Far from being an inconsequential and fallow incident, this expansive theme deconstructed and reconstructed over and over again actually permeates the work. Detailed motivic manipulation of this kind had hitherto been thought the exclusive domain of erudite Germanic composers like Beethoven and Brahms, rather than the Russians, who composed more by instinct. Until scholars recognised the intellectual bases of Tchaikovsky s compositions, no one had bothered to look for the reason behind the solecism of the concerto s Introduction. Taneyev s salute to this work as the first Russian piano concerto could possibly also be justified in that Tchaikovsky employs folk songs from Russia and nearby lands. These folk songs combine with motives from the introduction to create several of the work s main themes. The first movement s first theme proper, for instance, is based on the Ukrainian folk song Oi, kriache, kriache, chernyi voron. Explaining the concerto to his patron Madame Nadejda von Meck, Tchaikovsky wrote, It is curious that in Little Russia every blind beggar sings the same tune 4
with the same refrain. I have used some of it in my Piano Concerto. In addition to the Russian material, Tchaikovsky used the French chansonette Il faut s amuser, danser et rire, to create the Prestissimo theme of the middle movement; like all cultured Russian women, Madame von Meck was a Francophile and the inclusion of this chansonette would have delighted her. Lyle Chan Mikhail Pletnev s arrangement of the Nutcracker Suite is a collection of bonbons divertissements and miniatures that dazzle and amuse anchored by two of the most inspired numbers from the ballet; the Intermezzo and the intensely felt Andante maestoso. The March popularly known as the March of the Toys appears in Act I, where, with childlike tessitura, it establishes a world of innocence far from the dark qualities of E.T.A. Hoffmann s original tale. The mood is sustained in the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, forever associated with the tinkling celeste. (Tchaikovsky had found the instrument in Paris while searching for toy instruments to include in the ballet. I have discovered something between a small piano and a glockenspiel, with a divinely beautiful tone, he wrote home. Tchaikovsky expected a colossal effect from the tiny celeste, and he had one sent to St Petersburg under strict secrecy terrified that Rimsky-Korsakov or Glazunov would hear of it and use it first.) The following movement is, like the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, a variation from the Act II Pas de deux. But where the Sugar Plum Fairy s variation is characterised by chiming delicacy, her Prince is given a vigorous Tarantella. The Intermezzo comes from the close of Act I. The child Clara has saved the Nutcracker Prince from the attack of the mouse army and she is invited to his magic kingdom. But it is Tchaikovsky who works the magic, transforming a 19th-century drawing room into a snowy forest of pines through an expansive melody supported above endless arpeggios. In the Land of the Sweets we are treated to national dances. A Russian Trepak supplies the momentum required by the Cossack dancers and the virtuoso flourishes required by the pianist. The Chinese are represented by their national drink, tea, and are apparently unable to decide between the skirling flute and delicate pizzicato strings. The piano, with no need to decide, captures both effects perfectly. 5
The most substantial movement, the Andante maestoso, returns us to the Act II Pas de deux. This impassioned music is perhaps the finest moment from the ballet. It is truly symphonic in conception and here, above all, the pianist must evoke all the colour and richness of the orchestra. Yvonne Frindle 6
Recording Producer Malcolm Batty Recording Engineer Allan MacLean Cover and Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd Recorded live on 6 July 2004 at the York Theatre, Seymour Centre, The University of Sydney (Nutcracker Suite) and on 17 July 2004 at the Sydney Opera House (Piano Concerto No. 1). ABC Classics Robert Patterson, Martin Buzacott, Hilary Shrubb, Natalie Shea, Laura Bell 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Universal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited. 7
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