Piotr Iliych Tchaikovsky:
Symphony no.6, B-minor, op.74
“Pathetique”
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra,
Mariss Jansons
1986. Chandos Records Chan8446
(full price)
This is a recording which represents something quite special for me. I’ve never, I confess, been much of a Tchaikovsky fan, and the “Pathetique” along with the first pianoconcerto have been particularily difficult to accept and like. I still feel this way about the concerto. However Mariss Jansons and his eager and able crew have given me a musical awakening of no insignificant measure. I had, up till the point of discovering this Chandos gem, lived with the impenetrable, massive and dreadfully heavy versions, existing in regretable abundance. In my case Georg Solti’s Chicago recording from 1977, among others. Imagine the revelation of this intense, transparent and concise reading, taking yours truly completely by surprise. I had heard lots of praise going in the direction of the Tchaikovsky-cycle of the Oslo Philharmonics, but still this was more than I had hoped for - by far.
I’ve tried to think through what’s making this account of the “Pathetique” so unforgetable, but I seem to be a bit at a loss, when having to describe it. The symphony was completed in 1893, the year of Tchaikovsky’s death and as the short but concise booklet reveals, the composer him self confided in a good friend: “I concider this symphony the best thing I’ve ever done. In any case it is the most deeply felt”. The composer wanted it to be a programme symphony simply called “Programme symphony” with himself being the only one to know its programmatic content. He later changed his mind and the mighty work was named “Pathetique”. This is a highly personal account of tragedy, mourning and sorrow - Tchaikovsky’s own subjective encyclopedia of pathos.
It
is this pathos which so often borders on the modern meaning of the word
“Pathetique” in recordings of lesser integrity and intelligence. The work
can easily become more laughable and unbearably comic, than truly gripping.
It makes me think of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”. So often the old man’s
madness is more pathetic (as we use the word today) than profoundly tragic.
“Lear” has frequently been described as an unplayable play and I believe
an analogy to the tragedy of “the Pathetique” is not unthinkable; it being
equally unplayable. Thus a recording of such stature is so overwhelming
in its power to represent the core of Tchaikovsky’s pathos.
Mariss Jansons and the Oslo Philharmonics have in my opinion never been better on record, not even in the other recordings in this Tchaikovsky cycle. There is an everpresent nerve, an unruhe spanning through the four movements. Tchaikovsky’s macrocomposition differs from the traditional classicist sonata-symphony in its slow-fast-slow sequence. It starts with a solemn and slightly restrained adagio, before entering a whiplash allegro (9:26), shown in all its awsome terror, with which the first movement is rounded off.
The second movement (allegro con grazia) is as gracious and elegant as indicated, with its unusually rich strings wonderfully blended into the woodwind and brass, with the timpani keeping the undercurrent of unrest flowing. The allegro molto vivace in the third movement is rendered with some pretty spectacular orchestral virtuosity. The Oslo Philharmonics are as unison as they are delightfully concise. Every voice given its individuality as well as a place in the whole, thus constructing a soundtexture which is luminous and transparent and unwilling to hide even the most minute phrasing or emotional aspect, under the common layers of pomposity. Then comes the finale - a hauntingly beautiful adagio lamentoso. It is almost painful to witness, in its stark and naked intensity rendered to perfection by Jansons and his orchestra. No trace of cottoncandy anywhere, just about the most remarkable rendering of lamenting I’ve heard. This strange combination of an intensely beautiful theme of mourning, presented with a waltzing rythm is spinechilling and leaves you marked, trust me.
© 1999 Arne.Mork@hum.uit.no
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