Select a month

Back to The Archives

Monthly Archive: February 2019

TCHAIKOVSKY: “Pathetique” Symphony; Francesca da Rimini – Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Serge Koussevitzky – Pristine Audio 

TCHAIKOVSKY: “Pathetique” Symphony; Francesca da Rimini – Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Serge Koussevitzky – Pristine Audio 

by | Feb 15, 2019 | Classical CD Reviews, Classical Reissue Reviews

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 “Pathetique”; Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 – Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Serge Koussevitzky – Pristine Audio PASC 550, 72:16 [www.pristineclassical.com] ****: If memory serves, Serge Koussevitzky (1874-1951) made only one commercial recording of the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 in B minor (1930), on shellac discs (RCA M 85).  Therefore, any more recent revival of a Koussevitzky performance of Tchaikovsky (9 February 1946) would seem to verify further the proclamation by the composer’s brother Modeste, “So long as Koussevitzky performs my brother’s compositions, my brother’s music will live.”  These performances derive from the 1946 BSO broadcasts in singularly good sound; and, according to restoration engineer Andrew Rose, a sonority “better than they have any right to.” The Pathetique displays the typical Koussevitzky strategy, beginning quite slowly with added portamento and rubato to stretch the melodic line, lingering on high notes and then slowing down the tempo.  The musical-dramatic dimensions, however, cannot be denied.  The BSO strings, Koussevitzky’s pride and joy—especially the basses—respond with tragic luster.  Even as the music approaches the coda, the main theme gathers more melancholy momentum, and the drooping strings resolve into the wind statement with a true sense of […]

The Music Treasury for 17 February 2019

The Music Treasury for 17 February 2019

by | Feb 15, 2019 | Streams and Podcasts

This week, The Music Treasury will spotlight the extraordinary career of Hungarian violinist Tibor Varga.  His multi-faceted career includes: a concertizing soloist; a strong champion of 20th century works by Bartok, Berg, Webern, Schoenberg; founding of a music school of distinction, with a long list of stellar graduates; formation of orchestral ensembles, festivals, and violin competitions; and an extremely highly regarded conductor world-wide. The show is aired from 19:00 to 21:00 PST from Stanford Universities KZSU, with concurrent streaming on kzsu.stanford.edu.  Dr Gary Lemco hosts the evening show.  Lorrin Koran has assembled the following notes on Tibor Varga. Tibor Varga, violinist Tibor Varga (1921-2003) was born in Győr, Hungary, in the same region as violinists Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, and Carl Flesch, and the famous conductor Hans Richter. Young Varga took his first lessons at the age of two and a half with his father Lajos Varga, an excellent violinist. However, due to an injury during the War, Lajos Varga had to abandon his prospects for being a concert artist and became a violin maker. Coming to the attention of Jenő Hubay, Varga was enrolled at the Budapest Franz Liszt Academy when only ten years old. There he studied with Franz […]