A few years ago, I attended a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic. This took place at the UC Berkeley Zellerbach auditorium, and the conductor was Semyon Bychkov.
He conducted the Mahler symphony #6, and to be truthful, I was somewhat concerned about how a Russian-born musician would interpret Mahler. I was pleasantly surprised.
My post today is about Mr. Bychkov’s extensive project which focuses on the music of Tchaikovsky. The first recording features Tchikovsky’s Pathetique, and also music from Romeo and Juliet.
This allows us to hear Tchaikovsky’s drama, his sadness, and in some way also a description of the composer’s life.
Semyon Bychkov’s will have a lot of Tchaikovsky this season and in the future, but I will have to enjoy the recordings, because I am too far away.
Listen now to the third movement of the Pathetique, and enjoy it:
