When I first started writing about Dimitri Mitropoulos: The Complete RCA and Columbia Album Collection, I observed that the recordings of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven were “extremely modest” (failing to add that there were no recordings at all of Joseph Haydn). Indeed, as I took stock of the entire collection, I realized that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky came closest to deserving a category of his own. This is still not a particularly large share of the overall content. It includes five CDs in their entirety and tracks from another three CDs. Three CDs account for recordings made with the Minnesota Orchestra, and the remainder are performed with the New York Philharmonic.
Where content is concerned, Mitropoulos made a few ventures beyond the selections one tends to expect. Thus, while he accounted for the “big three” Tchaikovsky symphonies, Opus 36 (fourth) in F minor, Opus 64 (fifth) in E minor, and Opus 74 (sixth, “Pathétique”) in B minor, there is also a recording of Opus 17 (second, “Little Russian”) in C minor. These four CDs are divided equally between Minnesota (Opera 17 and 36) and New York (Opera 64 and 74). All four performances show a sensitive account to the details on the score pages and a judicious sense of balance that can be appreciated even when the masters were recorded with relatively inferior equipment.
The only concertos included are the “war horse” selections. Arthur Rubinstein is the soloist on a Minnesota recording of the Opus 23 (first) piano concerto in B-flat minor; and the Opus 35 violin concerto in D major is performed by Zino Francescatti with the New York Philharmonic. Both of these serve as models for a productive relationship between soloist and conductor. However, my personal preferences ventured away from the familiar to the Philharmonic recording of Opus 43 in D major, the first of Tchaikovsky’s four orchestral suites (all of which deserve far more attention than they currently receive).
Cover design of Mitropoulos’ “Marche slave” album (from the CD sleeve in the collection being discussed)
Finally, there are two short pieces, both of which are more likely to be found in “pops” programs. The first of these is the Opus 31 “Marche slave” in B-flat minor. This composition marked Tchaikovsky at his most patriotic, having been written to celebrate Russia intervening in the Serbian-Ottoman War and concluding with a dazzling quotation of the national anthem, “God Save the Tsar.”
The second involves a different geography. The Opus 45 “Capriccio Italien” was composed after Tchaikovsky returned from a visit to Rome that he made with his brother Modest. The Wikipedia page for this composition cites some of the Italian music that Tchaikovsky may have heard, which then found its way into his composition.
Nostalgic fun fact: These selections come from one of the first vinyl albums that I purchased after I had grown fed up with my parents’ 78 RPM recording of Opus 31; and, to this day, I am thankful for all of the details (including the opening measures) I encountered that were inaudible on the earlier album!
By way of an aside, the Francescatti album also includes the Mendelssohn concerto, Opus 64 in E minor, which was discussed in the Mitropoulos article written at the end of last month. Readers may recall that I was impressed with the intensity that Mitropoulos brought to all of his Mendelssohn recordings, distinguishing him from just about any conductor I have heard perform Mendelssohn in concert. There is, of course, no shortage of intensity in Tchaikovsky’s rhetoric. However, it is worth noting that Mitropoulos knew how to convey that intensity without letting it run amok, which it often does when a conductor (or soloist) thinks that (s)he is more important than the composer!
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