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 tragic close. But the first movement also includes richly lyrical episodes, including one of Tchaikovsky’s most luscious and tuneful themes. The second movement is an off-kilter waltz – it unfolds in the unusual time signature of 5/4 (instead of 3/4). The Finale’s deep vein of melancholia is all the more intense as it follows an unashamedly boisterous and upbeat third movement. Tragically, Tchaikovsky died barely a week after the symphony’s première (St Petersburg, 28 October 1893) which immediately cast a pall over the work’s reception. But Tchaikovsky did not consider the ‘Pathétique’ a harbinger of death; rather, he described it as ‘the best and most sincere of my works.’

Performed live as part of Rach 3 on 1 March 2024 at Federation Concert Hall, nipaluna / Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Friday 1 Mar 2024 7:30pm
Federation Concert Hall, nipaluna / Hobart

Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 in B minor, Op 74, ‘Pathétique’

Conducted by Eivind Aadland.

Adam Sills/Meriel Owen/Don Bate/Dave Flower/Richard Jupe
Federation Concert Hall, nipaluna / Hobart