Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky excelled at every form of composition but was particularly adept at orchestral music. His tone poems, concerti and symphonies are all basic repertoire compositions but it's in the great ballet scores 'Swan Lake,' 'Sleeping Beauty,' and 'Nutcracker,' where we encounter the essence of Tchaikovsky's genius. The ballets are models of brilliant orchestration, melodic invention and dramatic excellence. Most listeners are familiar with the ballets through the brief orchestral suites heard on this recording.
Herbert Von Karajan was one of the great conductors in all of music. On this recording, part of Decca's Legendary Performers series, he leads the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's ballet suites. The recording lives up to its name with Von Karajan spotlighting the delightful orchestral details and drama in the scores. The orchestra plays with sumptuous tone and a keen sense of drama. Kudos to the Decca engineers for providing warm, natural sound.
