大象传媒

This week Donald Macleod reflects on five aspects of Tchaikovsky. Today he ventures down south, to explore the composer鈥檚 long-standing love affair with the Italian nation.

Tchaikovsky travelled widely 鈥� as far as America, where he conducted his own music at the inaugural concert of New York鈥檚 Carnegie Hall in 1891. But outside of his own homeland, his destination of choice was Italy, where he returned again and again over the last two decades of his life. He loved the food, the climate, the scenery, the people and the musical culture, and several of his best-known compositions were directly inspired by the spirit of Italy, its characteristic sounds and atmospheres.

Six Romances, Op 38 (No 6, 鈥楲a Pimpinella鈥�)
Enrico Caruso, tenor
Gaetano Scognamiglio, piano

Piano Trio in A minor, Op 50 (鈥淚n Memory of a Great Artist鈥�)
(1st mvt, Pezzo elegiaco. Moderato assai鈥擜llegro giusto)
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
Lynn Harrell, cello

String Sextet in D minor (鈥楽ouvenir de Florence鈥�), Op 70
(2nd mvt, Adagio cantabile e con moto)
Quatuor Danel
Vladim铆r Buka膷, 2nd viola
Petr Prause, 2nd cello

Capriccio Italien, Op 45
Berlin Philharmonic
Ferdinand Leitner, conductor

Six Romances, Op 38 (No 2, 鈥業t was in the early spring鈥�)
Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano
Julius Drake, piano

Produced by Chris Barstow