Search - Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Antonio Pappano, Banda Musicale della Polizia di Stato :: Tchaikovsky: Overtures & Fantasies

Italian Tchaikovsky really sings--this is a special CD

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD from EMI's best young conductor, the Italian-American Antonio Pappano, has gained zero notice here at Amazon, but it's special. With his wide background in opera, you'd expect Pappano to make Tchaikovsky sing, and he does, to thrilling effect. Nothing here is bombastic or overblown, yet it's passionately intense. From the opening of Francesca da Rimini, a wrenching work that condcutors like Mravinsky load with tension and terror, we hear how Pappano reaches deep, shaping every phrase to count emotionally. He does this lightly, with a free touch in rhythms that's very appealing.



The same holds true for Romeo and Juliet, where the Santa Cecilia orchestra, a good but not world-class group, doesn't try to out-Berlin the Berliners but relies on expression to move the listener. In the two Eugene Onegin excerpts the same flowing, breathing style really lifts the dance. As when the opera is staged, a chorus sings along in the waltz, and they appear a capella to open the 1812 Over., an appealing touch. Even nicer is the entry of a women's chorus to sing one of the later folk tunes, followed by the whole cchorus for the Czar's hymn at the end. I'm not sure anyone is waiting with bated breath for an 1812 that puts sweetness before bombast, but this one does just that. EMI's engineering is clear, warm, and open.



In sum, a surprising find from an unlikely source. Even better news is that Pappano quickly followed up with the last three Tchaikovsky symphonies, performed in the same heart-warming style. The Gramophone compaerd his Tchaikovsky to Puccini. Well, yes."

Eloquent & Noble Tchaikovsky

Scriabinmahler | UK | 06/01/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is not bombastic & over-emotional Tchaikovsky performance of Stokowski or Svetlanov, but vividly captured & eloquent performance with noble restraint. Pappano's experience with operatic works is evident in each work, masterfully building up drama and intensity, for example in R&J Overture and Francesca. 1812 Overture's choral part has lovely subtlety as well as glorious sonority. Only drawback is that the finale is rather flat, with all percussion instruments muffled in the background, and bass drums are used instead of real artillery. Ormandy (choral version) and Solti's recordings of the work is far more powerful and exhilarating."

An emerging aned promissory talent

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 09/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The figure and undeniable directorial talent of Antonio Pappano has been one the most pleasant news in years. His youth has not been an obstacle for this magnificent promise of the art of baton.



I just watched on TV cable this morning (RAI at 12:30 pm local) directing Beethoven `s Seventh with such pristine elegance, accurate rhythmic pulsation, mercurial energy and genuine conviction about the thematic material.



Pappano uplifts the way we used to hear the most of these pieces; he gives vivid charm, visceral energy and imaginative lyric flight.



At this moment he, as well as Thielemans and Dudamel seem to be the most promising masters of the baton in a very recent future.



Kudos for him!

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