performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink, 1994 This is another one I was fortunate enough to hear in person, having gone to see a local university symphony perform it at symphony hall. Tickets were cheap, and seats … Continue reading Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
This article has been marked as in need of a revisit. That’s where I feel like I didn’t do the piece justice or have more to say (usually because I didn’t know it nearly well enough or didn’t have the right perspective). I’ll keep the original article for posterity, but publish a new version that will eventually be linked here for my new take on it. performed by the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra under Gennady Rozhdestvensky This piece was written in 1906-07 and premiered in 1908 with the composer conducting. I will talk about some of its background … Continue reading Rachmaninoff Symphony no. 2
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev (I think) (This piece has been ‘revisited’ since I felt the article below to be inadequate. The updated articles are here here for the original op. 47 , and here for the revised op. 112.) It’s Prokofiev. The recording I have happens to be the earlier, unrevised version; that’s the only reason I chose this one. I may address op. 112 separately. The first movement is generally “eroico” in nature, heavy and big, but also kind of menacing in places. The second theme is contrastingly lyrical and nice, and the middle section is … Continue reading Sergei Prokofiev: symphony no. 4 (op. 47)
Performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Bernard Haitink This has got to be one of my recent favorites. It would be in my top five at the moment (although, if I were to make a top five list, it … Continue reading Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 5 in Em, op. 64
performed by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra under Yevgeny Svetlanov (This piece has been ‘revisited’ since I felt the article below to be inadequate. For the updated article, click here.) Losing a post in progress is like Tumblr stealing a small part of my life. And infuriating. This one is two movements, but that doesn’t mean it lacks length. Each movement is at or over 20 minutes, so it comes in at somewhere shy of 45 minutes. As I’ve said before, I’m not super great at recognizing structure and key changes and all of that business, and it’s certainly harder … Continue reading Myaskovsky Symphony No. 3 in Am
Performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Gennady Rozhdestvensky There’s no article for Wikipedia on this, but other sources reveal it was premiered in 1868 by Borodin’s mentor, Mily Balakirev. I had heard somewhere that Balakirev also helped Rimsky-Korsakov with (and conducted the premiere of) his first symphony. Balakirev encouraged RK to continue work on the first movement. He did so, but apparently made a disaster of the orchestration. Balakirev came to the rescue again, getting RK started by helping him orchestrate the first page. He did well after that. But later, RK said of Balakirev: “[I] was convinced … Continue reading Alexander Borodin: Symphony No. 1 in Eb
performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under Mstislav Rostropovich (This piece has been ‘revisited’ since I felt the article below to be inadequate. For the updated article, click here.) This was Shostakovich’s graduation piece at the Leningrad conservatory, and he … Continue reading Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1 in Fm
This piece has been revisited, and an updated article has been written. Please read it here. I’ll keep the original article (below) for posterity, but I would suggest reading the new article instead. USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra under Gennady Rozhdestvensky (from a live performance) I love Rachmaninoff, or what I have heard of his. His two piano sonatas and the four concertos (far more familiar with 2 and 3), Paganini variations, and his second symphony. I’m not hugely familiar with a lot of his other works, but all of what I’ve heard sounds nice. I think even if … Continue reading Sergei Rachmaninoff: Symphony no. 3 in Am, op. 44
Performed by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Svetlanov conducting. (This piece has been ‘revisited’ since I felt the article below to be [beyond] inadequate. For the updated article, click here.) Do not be deceived; although a two-movement work, at … Continue reading Nikolai Myaskovsky: symphony No. 2 in C#m
Fugue for Thought 