Tchaikovsky, P.: Hamlet / Romeo and Juliet Vladimir Jurowski & Russian National Orchestra

• 1 Overture 09:09
• 2 Act I Scene 1: Melodrame: First appearance of Ghost 01:13
• 3 Act I Scene 4: Fanfare: A Flourish of Trumpets 00:25
• 4 Act I Scene 4: Melodrame: Appearance of Ghost to Hamlet 00:40
• 5 Act I Scene 5: Melodrame: The Ghost tells Hamlet of his father's murder 03:26
• 6 Act II: Entr'acte: Prelude to Scene 1 and first appearance in the play of Ophelia 02:55
• 7 Act II Scene 2: Fanfare: The Dumb Show enters 00:25
• 8 Act II Scene 2: Fanfare: A Room in the Castle - Flourish 00:27
• 9 Act III: Entr'acte: Prelude to Scene 1 which features Hamlet's soliloquy 03:04
• 10 Act III Scene 2: Melodrame: The Players enact the Scene of the Poisoning 02:21
• 11 Act IV: Entr'acte: Prelude to Scene 1 - A Room in the Castle 07:38
• 12 Act IV Scene 5: Scene d'Ophelie: Elsinore - Ophelia's Mad Scene 02:19
• 13 Act IV Scene 5: Deuxieme scene d'Ophelie: Re-enter Ophelia, fantastically dressed with straws and flowers 02:26
• 14 Act V: Entr'acte: Prelude to Scene 1 - A Churchyard 04:16
• 15 Act V Scene 1: Chant du Fossoyeur 01:17
• 16 Act V Scene 2: Fanfare: Trumpets sound 00:27
• 17 Act V Scene 2: Marche finale 00:40
• 18 Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (1st version, 1869) 16:32
• Total Runtime 59:40

Info for Tchaikovsky, P.: Hamlet / Romeo and Juliet

There were not many composers of standing, who worked equally hard on absolute and programme music. And of those composers, only few were destined to achieve extraordinary results in both genres. One of them was Peter Tchaikovsky. Probably his passion for reading stood him in good stead when inspired by high literature; after all, Tchaikovsky considered “reading as ranking amongst the greatest moments of happiness”. In his programmatic works, he did not try to elaborate on a literary programme or the detailed portrayal of a plot; rather, he was attracted to the psyche of the figures depicted, to the development of their characters, or, for instance, to the emotional impasses and whirlpools, into which they manoeuvred themselves, or into which they were drawn.

Anyhow, Tchaikovsky used three plays by the great Shakespeare on which to model various works: The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. He turned them into a symphonic fantasy (The Tempest, Op. 18), two fantasy-overtures (Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet, Op. 67) and incidental music (Hamlet, Op. 67 bis). Just like many other composers, Tchaikovsky was inspired by a disastrous love, which led him to ruin. It is interesting to note that the young composer was truly encouraged to compose by Mili Balakirev. Balakirev suggested that Tchaikovsky use Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as a model for his following work - he probably knew about Tchaikovsky’s unrequited love for the Belgian soprano Désirée Artôt and assumed that the story of the famous Shakespearian lovers would encourage him to get down to the composition.

“Think you know your Tchaikovsky? Think again…..Hamlet gives us a glimpse into a composer with a theatre director’s sensibility – he knows when to lend urgency to the players without overwhelming them, the music heightening but never upstaging….Jurowski and his forces offer playing of drive and passion.” (GRAMOPHONE)

Vladimir Jurowski
Russian National Orchestra

No biography found.

This album contains no booklet.