Tag Archives: tchaikovsky

Ivry Gitlis plays Sarasate and Tchaikovsky

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Ivry Gitlis (1922- )

Ivry Gitlis is an Isreali violin virtuoso. He has played with many of the world’s top orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and the Israeli Philharmonic. His style of playing is unconventional. He sometimes plays with a very intense vibrato and at other times with no vibrato at all. His use of the bow is different from many players today. Sometimes he lays into the string producing a powerful tone. At other times the bow slides across the string lightly producing a glassy sound. His playing is also very free compared to many modern players who seem to just plow through the notes in a mechanical fashion.

Here is Ivry Gitlis playing Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with pianist Ann Maria Vera, and Tchaikovsky’s Valse Sentimentale with pianist S. Neriki. I hope that you enjoy this music.

Rachmaninoff plays Tchaikovsky Lullaby Op. 16

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Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

A Russian 19th century composer.   He is known today by lovers of classical music for works such as his Romeo and Juliet Overture, Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto no.1 in b flat minor, his six symphonies, the Waltz of the Flowers, and the music to the ballet Swan Lake.

Tchaikovsky wrote wonderful lyrical melodies and his music is often melancholy.

Here is a lullaby written for the piano played by the famous Russian pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (the composer’s name is sometimes spelt with a v, but he preferred to spell it with two Fs).  As a pianist, Rachmaninoff was renowned for his precision, rhythmic drive, legato (smooth playing), and the clarity of texture.  Being a composer himself, Rachmaninoff had a real knack for figuring out what the composer was trying to say in his music. He learned a piece of music by deconstructing it note by note in order to figure out the phrasing of the melody (the contour of the melody) and how the piece fit together as a whole.

Here is a recording of a Tchaikovsky Lullaby transcribed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and played by Rachamaninoff himself.  Note that the recording quality is very good (Rachmaninoff lived from 1873-1943).  Rachmaninoff made normal recordings and also recorded piano rolls.  I think that this particular recording is a piano roll because the  sound quality is extremely good and does not contain any pops or background noise.  Enjoy!