Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev – Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker & Symphony No. 4 (2016) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – The Nutcracker & Symphony No. 4 – Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:09:02 minutes | 2,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Booklet, Front Cover | © Mariinsky
Recorded: Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, Russia, The Nutcracker – 16th June & 30th December 2015, Symphony No 4 – 10th June & 29th September 2015

On the 18th December, 1892 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, The Nutcracker was first introduced to the world. Now, almost 125 years since that opening night and from the very same hall, the Mariinsky’s current Artistic Director, Valery Gergiev, reveals a perfectly judged interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s ballet masterpiece.
Tchaikovsky was a pioneer, his music a new style that combined developments of the Western European musical tradition while remaining distinctively Russian. From an early age he had relished stage works involving magic or fantasy such as Weber’s Der Freischütz and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and after seeing Adolphe Adam’s Giselle he became a ballet devotee.
Based upon E.T.A. Hoffmann’s tale of a young girl’s magical Christmas Eve, as a whole The Nutcracker was poorly received at first. But Tchaikovsky’s spellbinding score proved simply too good to lose and The Nutcracker has become an essential part of festive celebrations the world over. Adored for pieces like The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and The Waltz of the Flowers, it contains some of Tchaikovsky’s most popular work and is perhaps the most famous ballet music ever written.
Closing the album is Tchaikovsky’s powerfully emotional Fourth Symphony. As the composer wrote, it is ‘patterned after Beethoven’s Fifth’ and is well known for its theme of ‘fate’, announced by the ominous recurring fanfare that holds the unique symphonic form together.
Tempering the sweetness of The Nutcracker, this coupling displays two very different sides of Tchaikovsky’s music, illustrating him as a complex man who battled to balance inner turmoils as well as utmost joys. Perhaps summed up by the final line of his famous programme note: ‘Reproach yourself and do not say that all the world is sad. Simple but strong joys do exist. Rejoice in other’s rejoicing. To live is still bearable.’

Tracklist:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
The Nutcracker Op. 71
1 Act 1: Overture[3’28]
2 Act 1 Tableau 1 No 1: Scene: The Christmas Tree[3’44]
3 Act 1 Tableau 1 No 2: March[2’26]
4 Act 1 Tableau 1 No 3: Children’s galop and dance of the parents[2’19]
5 Act 1 Tableau 1 No 4: Dance scene: Arrival of Drosselmeyer[5’06]
6 Act 1 Tableau 1 No 5: Scene and grandfather dance[6’16]
7 Act 1 Tableau 1 No 6: Scene: Clara and the Nutcracker[6’59]
8 Act 1 Tableau 1 No 7: Scene: The battle[3’12]
9 Act 1 Tableau 2 No 8: Scene: A pine forest in winter[3’25]
10 Act 1 Tableau 2 No 9: Waltz of the snowflakes[6’07]
11 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 10: Scene: The magic castle in the land of sweets[3’48]
12 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 11: Scene: Clara and Nutcracker Prince[4’18]
13 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 12a: Divertissement: Chocolate (Spanish dance)[1’06]
14 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 12b: Coffee (Arabian dance)[2’38]
15 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 12c: Tea (Chinese dance)[1’19]
16 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 12d: Trepak (Russian dance)[1’06]
17 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 12e: Dance of the reed pipes[2’21]
18 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 12f: Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles (Clowns)[2’30]
19 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 13: Waltz of the flowers[7’37]
20 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 14a: Pas de deux: Intrada[5’39]
21 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 14b: Pas de deux: Variation 1 (Tarantella)[0’36]
22 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 14c: Pas de deux: Variation 2 (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy)[2’03]
23 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 14d: Pas de deux: Coda[1’23]
24 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 15a: Final waltz[3’22]
25 Act 2 Tableau 3 No 15b: Apotheosis[1’28]Symphony No. 4 in F minor Op. 36
26 Andante sostenuto – Moderato con anima[19’16]
27 Andantino in modo di canzona[11’28]
28 Scherzo: Pizzicato ostinato – Allegro[5’32]
29 Finale: Allegro con fuoco[8’30]