Tschaikowsky: Manfred-Sinfonie ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Vasily Petrenko 

I found a vintage LP copy of this on Everest records, and was impressed by quality of the recording, and the haunting quality of this piece. So unlike what I expect from Tchaikovsky.

You may have heard wisps of this symphony in the musical score to the Ken Russel film, The Music Lovers, which appeared in the 70's. The beauty laid dormant in your soul until present.

Petrenko magistral.

Tchaikovsky displayed incredible sense for the dramatic in this composition, Doug. One reason I enjoy it so much is that it breaks away from the standard Tchaikovsky symphonic fare encapsulated in symphonies 4, 5 & 6. This seems heavily influenced by Wagner and, perhaps, to a lesser extent, Franz Lizst as they were contemporaries.

@@sirvincent7263 Mahler also appreciated his music and Tchaikovski knew of and liked Mahler.

:( I hope you get better soon!

well some o f us know why Tschaikovy's pain and anguish. His homosexuality in 19th century Russia.

@@steveburrus2611 He is following Manfred's tribulations. You are reading too much into this. Tchaikovsky was like his idol Mozart, able to write superior music completely separated from daily existence. It kept them going.

@@bartjebartmans it wasn't that separate, like the violin sonata mozart wrote after his mom passed away

@@diogopinto2878 Sure, but Mozart wrote some of his sunniest music during the worst moments in his life. He def. was capable of separation. And when he got super emotional like in the slow movements of the Sinfonia Concertante and Piano Concerto No. 23 he made sure that they were followed up with complete the opposite.

Actually he has another two that has almost completed, but one of them is quite performed and it's really very, very, very beautiful!!! The name of this Symphon 7 is Life and you should really look for it in youtube because there are sublime performances of it!!! Beijos da Bulgaria e do Brasil!!!

@@ksaviersilva1176 Ah, that unfinished Symphony in E-flat you mean. I already knew of it, but it seems I haven't listened to it (I think I used to mistake it with his Quartet Movement in B-flat major which I did listen to). Well, thanks for the comment! I'm going to listen to it right now.

@@ksaviersilva1176 Which is the SECOND one that you mean?! I am quite puzzled! Of course I know the "Seventh" Symphony in E-flat Major, but I think Tchaikovsky was well advised to recast it as the Piano Concerto No. 3, together with the "Andante and Finale," op. 79 (orchestrated by Taneev after Tchaikovsky's death) - I think the Third Piano Concerto, in its complete version, is perhaps the most interesting of the three!

Pppppp

Pp0ppppp

so true

It’s really an amazing work. I love it!

Totally agree, Steve. IMHO, best symphonic work he ever did. A master piece in every sense.

Well, it’s seems hard to argue that T’s Fifth Symphony was his tour d’ force. I believe Manfred was his first major output after having settled down in his new home in the Russian countryside outside Moscow on the route to St Petersburg. He was truly at home and at peace following decades of wandering through the whole of Europe. Still don’t quite understand why this piece didn’t get ‘numbered’, as it would be the true Fifth, right? Great music but to me doesn’t have the majesty of Five, or Six. Thanks RU-vid for this magnificent performance.

@@frankreedy6437 Manfred doesn't get numbered because it was composed in free format. Tchaikovsky breaks away from rules and regulations in so called Sonata form which is the structure of " Symphony". Therefore, Manfred is a symphonic fantasy in 4 movements. By theorey, it is not a symphony.

Thanks Pakasit1812!

Se debe acompañar con otro compositor ruso SERGIE RACHMANINOFF, forman la pareja el primero con obras orquestales y el segundo con obras pianisticas.

Spot on!

Who was greater?

@@frankreedy6437 none

@@raymondmahoney2617 reminds me of the old music class question about ‘how many symphonies did Tchaikovsky write if the Sixth was his last?’ Trick question of course; the answer was seven. Having spent a lifetime listening to all of them, I’d have to say his Fifth is the grandest of all.

If you can't spell his name right please refrain....

@@robertwesterman922 Typos happen...

@@robertwesterman922 This is probably the German spelling, nothing wrong with it. And Russians probably spell it differently than Tchaikovsky if they were to do a Russian transliteration. The important thing is that we are lucky there has existed such a genius not spelling of his name.

And Tchaikovsky was a major influence on the early Stravinsky, who considered him the most Russian of composers.

Sir Vincent .... for me it lacks the form and taughtness of the other symphonies, but it makes up for it drama and power. It is a vast tone poem and reflects the composers inner thoughts and feelings at the time...

Let's not forget that fugue in the finale.

Quite so, Sir Vincent. Too bad there are still conductors who insist on re-orchestrating and even re-composing the work, cutting the fugue in the finale (you can do that only if you're Toscanini) or copy-pasting the ending of the first movement to the last (completely indefensible, no matter who you are). Too bad, too, there are prejudiced listeners who have made up their minds (or somebody else has made up their minds for them) and cannot possibly allow that "Manfred" is every bit as good as the last three symphonies, and it needs committed performances instead of cuts and re-arrangements.

@@AlexanderArsov ?

Sir Vincent....you had said my opinion. Have very good Eastern

How about 31:45 in the 3rd movement? Short but very sweet. Length isn't everything, as I keep saying to myself.

Peter Lambert. Ah yes. The tune at 19:24. Yes? Wonderful.

I just started and you just made me want to skip to the second movement.

Everyone, except Tchaikovsky himself, it seems. He wrote a Russian grand Duke shortly after sharing the score with him that ‘it is an abominable piece’, and that he loathed it but for the first movement. It must have been in one of T’s low moments, because he went ahead and published it, even conducting it at one performance. Thank goodness T didn’t destroy this work, eh, like he did so many of his diaries late in life. Who knows what we may have learned from his magnificent mind? Think if he had lived beyond his short 55 years! It’s doubtful he’d have had another great symphony in him; after 4-5-6 and this?

O

Total, total, totalmente de acuerdo, muchas gracias.-

Soy de la misma opinión.

До конца года будет война. А потом возможно путин применит ядерное оружие.

Ce sont les médiocrité stupides que reçoit la jeunesse par la tv

We wouldn't appreciate at that age anyways.

@@h.tahoori But if one waits until high school, youngsters' listening habits have been largely formed, and then it's an almost Sisyphean task to encourage them to expand their listening repertoire or to gain an understand of musical genres and forms. Of course, one must provide "steps for little feet" or for "undereducated ears", but I fear most of those teaching in public schools are not prepared for the task. Living in the US, I can make some informed comments about that country. It appears that by the late '60s much of the gymnasium-type education typical of Europe but which had obtained even in certain public high schools in the US was disappearing or had already disappeared. Youngsters were no longer required to read as extensively and intensively as earlier: anthologies with excerpts were used instead of entire works. Memorization of poems, selections from Shakespeare and the like was no longer required. Schools may have offered band, choir or glee club, orchestra either as extra-curricular activities or for fewer credits than "academic" subjects, or even home economics or wood-working or metal shop, but courses in "music appreciation" were rare. Even they typically hit the high points - the major composers, a handful of their works, but musical genres and forms were little studied, if at all. Now, this is not place for an excursus. Let me conclude by observing that the Soviet Union's Oct. 1958 launching of Sputnik brought about an emphasis on mathematics and the "hard" sciences with a consequent de-emphasis or neglect of the humanities and social, or "soft" sciences. Moreover, the hierarchy of values changes, and in a democratic republic like the US power-seeking politicians often persuade voters of an agenda that makes ever so attractive values that do not recognize the importance of developing one's artistic, intellectual or "spiritual" (not religious) abilities and capabilities. If an appreciation and understanding of the importance of the humanities (broadly speaking) and the social sciences persist in the US, I suggest they are due to the relative freedom to pursue one's interests, despite almost insurmountable obstacles in some cases.

@@tserkoslavjanskij Good points you mentioned sir. I have to agree with the lack of humanity in the third millennium more that the last century. humankind have gone so deep scientifically but the deeper you go the narrower your perspective gets. Culture has to stand tall against Nature!

I seriously doubt that even a HS Band director today (when I was younger - there was one - Dr. Richard Prenshaw in Jackson, MS) who would have a clue about Classical music, or even if he/she did whether they could get across that Michael Jackson, was NOT the greatest musician in history.

Concuerdo contigo!

Я тоже согласна!

I would not be ANYTHING without him!

Sem dúvidas! Sem ele , a música desde o final do século XIX até hoje não teria sentido (com algumas excepções) sem ele ter existido: a música dos seus ballets (Stravinsky), tudo o corpus sinfônico (com seus defeitos) mas com sua honestidade e transparência no plano musical não seria hoje a música acadêmica o que é sem sua marca indelével…

Paul Lewis. Indeed. What a catch for the RPO. Even if someone does think he looks like what she charmingly calls a "brutal series (stet) killer."

The author himself considered this one of his best things, actually.

Saw him conduct a performance of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony at Leeds Town Hall a few years ago with the RLPO. How young, what a talent.

Странно, Чайковский - русский композитор, а отзывы исключительно иностранные. Вероятно, в России уже не осталось слушателей.

Россиянам не до музыки; грабеж в Украине, если убегут от пули.

@@user-su6qf5cj2b щ

43:18

55:33

where is this ?

indeed so sad

'where can i fund more about this poem ?

​@@user-kl8sv8mp5o . You can dowload the poem freely in Project Gutenberg website: www.gutenberg.org/files/20158/20158-h/20158-h.htm#MANFRED. It is about 60 pages long.

Tchaikovsky loved Mozart music and was influenced by him

those descending chords and notes fading away gorgeous i am with you

yeah, Tchaikovsky not a fan of wagner! nor Brahms lol did you hear about his honorary doctorate at Cambridge?

Same goes for Sibelius' Kullervo.....a masterpiece program symphony!....yet rarely played and not well known.

My set of Sibelius symphonies with Sir Colin Davis/LSO includes Kullervo. And yes it's an incredible piece of music.