Mariinsky Orchestra/Gergiev
Tchaikovsky Nutcracker and Symphony No 4
Mariinsky label.com
NOW here is a glory, a double CD coupling Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet, as glamorous a musical chocolate box collection as you could hope for, and the mighty Fourth Symphony, the composer’s probably-autobiographical symphony that deals with Fate, both in its musical material and in its message, pretty explicitly spelled out by Tchaikovsky: if there is no joy in life for you, try to experience it vicariously by witnessing the happiness of others.
The performance of Nutcracker is intoxicating in its beauty – all the magic and sparkle is there. I felt as though I had been sprinkled with stardust; it’s glossy and glittering and gorgeous. The Fourth Symphony, after its opening fanfares of Fate, turns broad and passionate, deeply-felt in its slow movement, gobsmacking in the pizzicato movement and boiling in the finale, at the climax of which Gergiev goes into turbo-drive, and will no doubt be accused of playing to the gallery – what the heck, it’s nearly Christmas. The recording, made in the concert hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, is fabulous – the only word for it – rich in sonic splendour. Go on, treat yourself, you won’t regret it.
Michael Tumelty
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here