by Ken
As far back as the mind recalls, Sunday Classics has celebrated the holiday musically at last in part with music from Tchaikovsky's ballets, and last year I went whole hog and offered a complete Nutcracker, basically double-covered throughout, and assembled from, well, a whole bunch of recordings. And as I ventured in last year's Nutcracker preview, what better way could there be to "warm up" for the main event than with the composer's own Nutcracker Suite, good old Op. 71a? In the click-through we've got two quite splendid, and interestingly different, performances.
WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENTLY SPLENDID
RECORDINGS OF THE NUTCRACKER SUITE
TCHAIKOVSKY: Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a:
i. Miniature Overture
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, cond. Command, recorded c1963
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit, cond. Decca, recorded c1985
You'll note straightaway in the Miniature Overture that William Steinberg is taking a rather spritelier approach and Charles Dutoit a more buoyant, caressing one. Both the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Montreal Symphony play utterly delectably.
IN AUDIO TERMS, BOTH RECORDINGS HAVE
STERLING PEDIGREES, IN QUITE DIFFERENT STYLES
* The Command recordings that Enoch Light produced with the Pittsburgh Symphony and its longtime music director Wiliam Steinberg --
done on 35mm film by engineer Robert Fine, the talented engineer of most of the legendary Mercury Living Presence recordings -- are one of the great triumphs of orchestral recording technology. (This is the dub I made from my Command LP two years [now three] ago for our "3rd annual Very Tchaikovsky Christmas." Since it doesn't have CD track points, it plays continuously; I've provided time cues below for the individual movements.)
* The vivid sonic-spectacular recordings that Decca made with then-music director Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal --
this one produced by Andrew Cornall and engineered by Jimmy Lock -- have long been understandably prized by audiophiles.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a:
i. Miniature Overture
ii. Characteristic Dances
-- (a) March [at 3:01 in the trackless Steinberg version]
-- (b) Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy [at 5:30]
-- (c) Trepak (Russian Dance) [at 7:01]
-- (d) Coffee (Arabian Dance) [at 8:06]
-- (e) Tea (Chinese Dance) [at 11:22]
-- (f) Dance of the Reed Pipes [at 12:43]
iii. Waltz of the Flowers [at 14:59]
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg, cond. Command, recorded c1963
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit, cond. Decca, recorded c1985
LAST YEAR'S PREVIEW HAD A TCHAIKOVSKY BONUS.
IT WOULD BE CHURLISH TO OMIT IT THIS YEAR!
The very same Decca CD that contains Charles Dutoit's splendid Montreal recording of the Nutcracker Suite contains a quite splendid performance of the Capriccio, another piece that represents Tchaikovsky in his unusual highest spirits. So I thought I'd throw it in here.
TCHAIKOVSKY: Capriccio italien, Op. 45
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit, cond. Decca, recorded c1985
IN THIS WEEK'S SUNDAY CLASSICS POST
As noted, for the second time in Sunday Classics history we're going to hear the whole of The Nutcracker -- and in a panoply of stellar performances!
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