Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, Pathétique; Serenade for Strings op. 48 Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & Daniele Gatti

• Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893): Symphony No. 6 in B minor, -Pathétique- Op. 74
• 1 I. Adagio - Allegro non troppo 17:59
• 2 II. Allegro con grazia 07:09
• 3 III. Allegro molto vivace 08:31
• 4 IV. Finale: Adagio lamentoso 11:02
• Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48
• 5 I. Pezzo in forma di Sonatina 09:53
• 6 II. Walzer 04:03
• 7 III. Élégie 09:58
• 8 IV. Finale: Tema Russo 07:49
• Total Runtime 01:16:24

Info zu Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, Pathétique; Serenade for Strings op. 48

The conflict between public persona and private feelings was never more deeply felt than by Tchaikovsky in his life’s final years, and never expressed with greater poignancy than in the Pathétique Symphony. Or so we’ve been led to believe. (For a variety of interpretations, see Tchaikovsky: A Self-Portrait, by Vladimir Volkoff, p. 322ff, Robert Hale & Co., London, 1985.)

“Tchaikovsky Agonistes,” a composer tormented by his homosexuality, is a 20thcentury invention. While not without concerns about his emotional peace of mind – and who can say otherwise ? – the composer’s personal predilections were neither flaunted nor hidden. If homosexuality was not embraced by Imperial Russia, it was tolerated both by members of the Romanov Court and the musical establishment.

Outwardly, Tchaikovsky’s last years were triumphant. In 1892, the Académie Française elected him a member and Cambridge University chose him to receive an honorary Doctorate of Music. His works were performed throughout the Continent, and his career as guest conductor was flourishing, with engagements booked into May of 1894. Most important, perhaps, he continued to compose prolifically. For the Mariinsky stage he created Pique Dame in 1890, Iolanta in 1891, and The Nutcracker in 1892, and his orchestral scores included the symphonic ballad Voyevoda in 1890-91 and the Pathétique Symphony in 1893, his last completed work.

For the Pathétique and its surrounding mystique, Tchaikovsky himself set the stage. While planning it, he wrote to Vladimir ‘Bob’ Davydov, his nephew and lover and the Symphony’s dedicatee: “During my stay in Paris last December I had the idea of writing a program symphony; but to a program that should remain an enigma for everyone but myself; let them try and guess it! For my part, I intend to call it simply ‘Program Symphony.’ The theme of it is full of subjective feeling, so much so that as I was mentally composing it during the journey, I frequently shed tears…”

“Gatti's Pathétique certainly has a mind of its own, but he justifies everything he does, backed up to the hilt by world-class orchestral playing… Gatti has an eagle eye for details and dynamics. A brisk and genuinely joyous waltz… The march, too, is fast but not impersonal, and only at the heart of the Adagio lamentoso does Gatti broaden uncharacteristically; again, the tonal opulence informs an overwhelming climax.” (BBC Music Magazine)

“…the performance is magnetic; Gatti has the full measure of Tchaikovsky's white-heat inspiration. The flexible rubato that Gatti favours in the Adagio finale sounds totally natural and spontaneous, though as with the second subject of the first movement he has an extended pause before the big melody enters, tender as well as emotional. If my final preference is still for Janson's... at more flowing speeds, Gatti and the RPO hold a trump card in their exceptionally generous coupling, a warmly persuasive reading of the Serenade for Strings, which builds on the ripe resonance of the RPO string section, again with clear textures and articulation and a wide dynamic range.” (Gramophone Magazine)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniele Gatti, conductor

Daniele Gatti
Considered the ‘foremost conductor of his generation,’ Italian conductor Daniele Gatti has galvanized the music world with his dramatic and instinctive style. A charismatic maestro, he demonstrates an equal mastery of the orchestra and the opera stage, delivering consistently probing interpretations imbued with re and re ned sensitivity.

Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 1996, Gatti has inspired audiences and critics alike with his enraptured performances; his recordings have attracted enthusiastic notices. Since 1998, Gatti is also Music Director of Bologna’s opera house, the Teatro Comunale, and has con- ducted opera to great acclaim the world over.

A native of Milan, Daniele Gatti studied piano and violin at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, earning his degree in composition and conducting. Following his La Scala début at the age of 27, he led productions at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice, the Chicago Lyric Opera, Berlin Staatsoper and New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Maestro Gatti was Music Director of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome from 1992 to 1997 as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden from 1995 to 1997.

He made his Carnegie Hall début in the 1989/90 season with the American Symphony Orchestra, and has since led most of the world’s major orchestras. He has become a favourite of audiences in Chicago where he first conducted the Chicago Symphony in 1994, returning every other season since. Gatti’s 1996 début with the New York Philharmonic was hailed as a “remarkable performance” (The New York Times) and led to a triumphant return in 1998, 2000, and again in 2002.

His touring engagements at the head of the RPO frequently take him to Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Mexico and the USA. In their first recording for harmonia mundi usa, Maestro Gatti led the RPO in a visionary performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5; the collaboration continued with their acclaimed recording of Symphony No. 4.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The history of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is inextricably linked to its founder, Sir Thomas Beecham, one of Britain’s greatest conductors and classical music’s more colourful figures. When in 1946 Beecham set out to create a world-class ensemble from the nest players in the country, he envisioned an orchestra that would bring the greatest music ever composed to every corner of the United Kingdom. Since Sir Thomas’ death in 1961, the Orchestra’s musical direction and development has been guided by a series of distinguished maestros including Rudolf Kempe, Antal Dorati, André Previn and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Today, under the inspired leadership and gifted musicianship of Daniele Gatti (Music Director since 1996), the Orchestra continues to expand its international reputation while maintaining a deep commitment to its self-appointed role as Britain’s national orchestra.

The RPO’s performances and recordings have been widely acclaimed by the public and press around the world, who have praised the Orchestra for the “quality of its playing, which [is] incisive, insightful and extremely beautiful” (The Guardian, UK).

Over the years, the RPO has enjoyed long-standing partnerships with contemporary and living composers, and has also worked closely with many of the finest film composers of our time. The Orchestra is highly regarded for the versatility of its projects. These range from performing new works by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies at a Royal Gala concert at the Palace of Westminster in commemoration of the end of World War II, to playing at the London premières of the recent Star Wars® films.

An orchestra of world renown, the RPO has played for the late Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, the President of China in Tiananmen Square and at the tenth-anniversary celebration of Kazakhstan’s independence. The Orchestra was privileged to be invited to record the music for the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In addition to its regular engagements throughout Europe, the RPO’s future plans include tours of the USA, Mexico and China.

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