Towering Musical Masterpieces!
John Boland | USA | 02/21/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Of course, everyone knows that Tchaikovsly was a great musical genius. The Nutcracker and his other ballets are enough proof of that. But, he blessed us with THREE great symphonies. Besides the beautiful melodies in these symphonies, I would like to point out that these symphonies "tell a story"---each one of them. Tchikovsky called them "program symphonies". I will mention only the beginnign and end of the 6th symphony. On records the beginning and end seem "boring"----too faint in volumne and too "depressing". But, when I heard this symphony in person a few years ago I reaslized that the beginning seems to represent "nothingness"....and the ending the same..."back to nothingness". So the symphony is about "a person's life"...coming from "death" or "non-existence" and returning, at the end, to the same. Then, the other parts are "the life" of the person with love, anger, cruel fate, fear, courage...all depicted with beautiful melodies and dramatic music. You, like myself, will appreciate that "it all makes sense" as you listen to "the story of a persons life" in music! I hope the above gives the reader who may not know Tchakovsky's 6th an idea about "what it is about" and "why it is a great symphony"....the symphony has "great and deep meaning" I think. Boland7214@aol."
The best 6th!
Peter Chordas | Portland, OR USA | 03/23/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I agree with Jeffrey Lee. This 6th symphony is superb! I have heard that Mravinsky was a tyrant and led the Leningrad orchestra with a firm wand. He was a perfectionist. But regardless of his unyielding demands and bad temper, his achievement to bring this orchestra to the hight he did in this symphony is unmatched by any other. Packed with passion and emotion, he maximizes each and every movement with fervor and despair. This symphony conveys life with all its ups and downs. In the end, you can imagine the nails being driven into a coffin as a statement of the grand finale and terminal end. Though rather depressing, it is a symphony filled with beauty and drama and I have yet to hear anyone come close to bringing it to such sweeping emotion as Mravinsky and the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra."