Search - Emmanuel Chabrier, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Herbert von Karajan :: Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6 "Pathétique" / Romeo and Juliet / Chabrier: España / Karajan

One of the better Karajan/Tchaikovsky Sixths

Jeffrey Lee | Asheville area, NC USA | 01/24/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This account of Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" is one of Karajan's better efforts, and, for him, relatively emotional. I have not yet listened to the Chabrier Espana, and I will probably ignore Romeo and Juliet because I feel its overratedness contributes to its excessive appearance on discs. I suppose because I'm not an avid Karajan fan and follower that I've shortchanged myself somewhat on discovering a side of this conductor I had thought was uncommon at best. Others more familiar with his career have said that Karajan used to be more flexible years ago, and then, in time, became more concerned with tailoring or packaging, even controlling, the kind of musical style he was interested in selling to audiences. With the exception of his Beethoven and the Prokoviev Fifth and Shostakovich Tenth Symphonies, I've not exactly cottoned to that style. In particular, I've usually found his Tchaikovsky lacking in emotional depth, though I haven't really argued with his sense of drive and power in showcasing this composer. Here, however, in this 1949 performance with the fabled Vienna Philharmonic, a fair portion of the music is played in a sympathetic way. In particular, the second movement is very nicely done. The tragic elements are also well handled. My criticism is that Karajan exhibits an occasional tendency to slow the pace a little too much in some passages. All things considered, however, a nice performance, in mono but very good sound."