Kempe RPO Croydon 1973 Tchaikovsky 6

[@poturbg8698]

I saw Kempe/RPO in this music in Ann Arbor during 1973-1974. He left ZERO pause between the last two movements of the symphony, which was quite jarring. What an effect! And a beautiful performance.

[@gerontius3]

I remember reading an interview with Kempe where he said this performance of Don Juan was one of the few performances where he was really happy with it. The RPO had exceptional horns at this time. Stokowski did the same Tchaikovsky Symphony in the same hall later that year with the LSO. He described the Fairfield Hall as one of the finest in Europe and he knew what he was talking about. Seating around 1200 it was a superb venue, now sadly hardly ever used as a concert hall...........

[@MrDuffy]

1:14 R. Strauss - Don Juan Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 6 Op. 74 19:05 Adagio - Allegro non troppo 38:51 Allegro con grazia 47:55 Allegro molto vivace 56:50 Adagio lamentoso

[@twotenjack21011]

I am very grateful for responding to my request!

[@twotenjack21011]

In a 1975 interview, Dr. Kempe spoke of his favorite concerts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 at the Edinburgh Festival in 1959, Mahler's Symphony No. 1 at Union Nation in 1969 and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 "Pathétique." He conducted the "Pathétique" with the Royal Philharmonic in February 1973 and February 1975, but it is unclear which was his favorite.

[@gerontius3]

Just listen to the nuance in the string phrasing, especially in the finale - very different than the "play as written" brigade and so much better for it!

[@Gralsritter]

Only by the BBC in those days

[@petterw5318]

I never realised Don Juan was pronounced like that.

[@gerontius3]

It isn't. The BBC went through a bizarre phase in the mid 1970s where they anglicized every "foreign" word, hence it was Don Jew-ann instead of Don Whann, likewise Don Quixutt instead of Don Kihotay..................ugly, stupid and insane. It drove me nuts. So many people complained they went back to trying to pronounce foreign words as best they could as they were intended.