Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 5
TSO favourites
•
50m
Tchaikovsky’s Fifth is one of the most luscious of symphonies. It takes hold of the listener from the very first notes – a soft, slow phrase emanating from the deepest registers of the clarinet – and builds to climaxes of massive proportions. Shaping this towering symphony is Eivind Aadland, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director.
Tchaikovsky considered his fifth symphony a failure at its premiere, but audiences from the past century and a half would beg to differ. Tchaikovsky takes the main theme on a dramatic journey, toying with it in moods that range from the sombre opening clarinet melody to the triumphant march in the final movement. In the second movement, a hauntingly beautiful string introduction leads to a sublime horn solo, with cameos from the clarinet and bassoon. A master of ballet music, Tchaikovsky replaces the traditional third movement scherzo with a graceful waltz.
Performed live as part of Brahms / Tchaikovsky on 18 November 2023 at Federation Concert Hall, nipaluna / Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
PROGRAM
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Symphony No 5 in E minor, Op 64
Conductor: Eivind Aadland
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Up Next in TSO favourites
-
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6 'Pathétique’
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Eivind Aadland, perform Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6, the 'Pathetique'. The work opens in enigmatic fashion – barely audible sustained bass notes and a slow and halting bassoon theme – which perhaps foreshadows the work’s trag...
-
Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto
Mendelssohn’s final concerto. His heart’s last jewel.
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor was a success from its premiere, despite features that would have made it quite unconventional in its day. Instead of a full orchestral introduction before the entrance of the soloist, the violinist j... -
Mendelssohn's Symphony No 4 ‘Italian’
The sound of Italy.
Felix Mendelssohn was an avid traveller. He spent nine months or so in Italy in 1830-31 where he jotted down ideas that would make their way into his Symphony No. 4, ‘Italian’. Writing to his sister, Fanny, from Rome in February 1831, he commented, ‘I have once more begun to ...
