There are countless versions of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ("Pathétique"), including several by conductor Valery Gergiev, who seems to keep worrying about the work. This one is a live performance from 2010 recorded in Paris, but not released until 2019 in the growing catalog of the Mariinsky Orchestra's own label. It has to be very near the top of the heap. Sometimes it has been stated that Gergiev's Tchaikovsky features fast tempos, and that's telling; in fact, this "Pathétique" is on the slow side. ...
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There are countless versions of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ("Pathétique"), including several by conductor Valery Gergiev, who seems to keep worrying about the work. This one is a live performance from 2010 recorded in Paris, but not released until 2019 in the growing catalog of the Mariinsky Orchestra's own label. It has to be very near the top of the heap. Sometimes it has been stated that Gergiev's Tchaikovsky features fast tempos, and that's telling; in fact, this "Pathétique" is on the slow side. Gergiev takes more than 21 minutes for the opening movement, far less than Yannick Nézet-Séguin or Thomas Dausgaard or the fearsome Teodor Currentzis. The thing is, it feels fast. This is because Gergiev, quite remarkably, strikes a tone of deep anxiety right at the beginning of the work and sustains it until the final murk of despair. In so doing, he forges quite an original approach that stripes the second-movement "Allegro con grazia" of its sugar-plum-like grace and even the third...
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Add this copy of Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 to cart. $24.56, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2019 by Mariinsky.