If you are sick and tired of Christmas, if you enjoy classical music, and if you wish to avoid things like Handel’s Messiah, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, or Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, I have a few suggestions for you. Oh, if you are an atheist, you’d be willing to choose, say, Richard Strauss’ Salome, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3, Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead, or Sibelius’ Tapiola, deliberately too. You may be interested to know that my favorite music from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker isn’t from The Nutcracker Suite (although I do love all of it). My favorite parts lie within the sequence that starts from the moment when Clara is about to fall asleep up to the end of Act I. The most emotional music of this ballet comes from this sequence. Two particular climaxes strongly reflect Tchaikovsky’s profound loneliness. Oh, I also love the B-flat major pas de deux in Act II. This piece is both regal and emotional, as well, truly magical. However, if you must have something that has to do with Christmas, how about Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve Suite? This suite is concocted with musical bits from various parts of the opera, which is not often staged. Or, how about music from Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki (which is also not often staged)? The story of Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki is actually identical to the story of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve. Though they were contemporaries, Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki was composed much earlier than Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve. Here are two clips: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve Suite and the Russian Dance and Cossacks Dance from Act III of Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki. https://youtube/watch?v=k0vFOax7ZeU (Rimsky-Korsakov) https://youtube/watch?v=BM6J0ElU6zY (Tchaikovsky)
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 10:32:29 +0000
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