Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture - Valery Gergiev - Mariinsky Orchestra & Chorus - MAR0503 (2009)
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DSD recording :)
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The 5 works by Tchaikovsky on this CD form a cohesive whole. They were written to order. There is nothing shameful about this for the creative spirit. The majority of professional composers used to accept commissioned work, & still do. An order means that there is demand for the work, it is financially beneficial & above all – or maybe, most importantly – having a deadline disciplines the creative urge & stimulates inspiration. But in Russia in Tchaikovsky’s time, it was quite unusual for work to be commissioned (even for the members of the ‘Mighty Handful’ such as Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov & Balakirev) since many composers, even those well-known, had ‘amateur’ status. In this & in other ways, Tchaikovsky was the 1st ‘professional’ Russian composer. A new generation of composers (Stravinsky, Prokofiev) followed in his footsteps; for them, commissions were the norm.
Tchaikovsky, however, usually found working to order irksome but, being a professional, he produced music of the highest quality. He accepted commissions & the result was inspired. The orders were for official purposes. Tchaikovsky wrote for official & public events. He was an official composer from early in his career, on call whenever there was a need for music for state or social occasions. His compositions were well-crafted, accessible & attractive, capturing the mood of his fellow Russians.

Reviews:

Tchaikovsky is most evidently (& gloriously) Tchaikovsky in the Moscow Cantata. A vintage melody turns the 1st page of Russian history, illuminating it in that inimitable Tchaikovsky way. The baritone monologue in praise of Moscow culminates in a marvellously stirring idea & in the 2nd mezzo-soprano arioso honouring the women of Russian we find a heroine worthy of any Tchaikovsky opera. No doubt about it, Tchaikovsky had a gift for personalising even his most official duties, The dutiful was not really in his vocabulary. 
~ Gramophone

AllMusic:
The occasional or commemorative compositions of the great composers often have historical significance, especially when they are associated with royalty & the military, but only a few works in this category have become popular hits. Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky composed several celebratory pieces on commission to mark national events & achieved some success, despite the fact that he usually discounted them as hack work & felt embarrassed by their bombast & shallowness. The self-critical composer was wrong about the worth of 2 of his masterpieces, the 1812 Festival Overture, Op. 49, & the Slavonic March, Op. 31, for both are among his most played works & widely loved for their bold orchestration, abundant tunefulness, & vivid depictions of military struggles & victories. Valery Gergiev certainly had to include both of these favorites for this 2009 release from Mariinsky, for without them there would be little incentive for most people to listen to the rest of the program. The "Moscow" Cantata, the Festival Coronation March, & the Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem, Op. 15, may be fascinating curiosities that round out Tchaikovsky's officially ordered works, but these are among Tchaikovsky's few obscurities & worth hearing only once or twice. However, listeners may feel compelled to play the 1812 Overture & the Slavonic March more frequently, because Gergiev & the Mariinsky Orchestra pull out all the stops to make this SACD a sonic spectacular. Indeed, the cannonade & bells in 1812 are so impressive, one feels this piece should have been placed last, for nothing that follows it has its explosive energy. Mariinsky's reproduction is generally quite clear & focused, & the SACD format provides an enormous dynamic range & adequately captures the spacious acoustic.


      Tracks:

01-1812 Festival Overture
02-Moscow Cantata: i. Introduction and Chorus: Andante religioso
03-Moscow Cantata: ii. Arioso: Moderato con moto
04-Moscow Cantata: iii. Chorus: Allegro
05-Moscow Cantata: iv. Monologue and chorus: Moderato - Largo
06-Moscow Cantata: v. Arioso: Andante molto sostenuto
07-Moscow Cantata: vi. Finale: Moderato con moto
08-Slavonic March ("Marche Slave")
09-Festival Coronation March
10-Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem

      Musicians:

Valery Gergiev
Mariinsky Orchestra & Chorus
Lyubov Sokolova, mezzo-soprano
Alexey Markov, baritone

     Recording:

Engineers: John Newton, Dirk Sobotka
Concert Hall of th the Mariinsky Theatre


http://www.filefactory.com/folder/f611b5dd9d84fe60
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Checksum for iso:
4cdda649bf6d6cad99c8f79b0ff1484b *Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Orchestra, Soloists, and Chorus - TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture.iso