Tchaikovsky: Symphonie No. 6, Pathétique - Yannick Nézet-Séguin

An evergreen symphony and exquisite violin pieces by Tchaikovsky. Classic FM Drive Featured Album, 30 September 2013.

Here, the brilliant young French-Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin records a symphony that has played a central role in his career. He first heard it when he was eight years old; later, it was the work he chose for his conducting debuts with both the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Nézet-Séguin coaxes out of the Rotterdam Philharmonic an authentically rich and refined performance of Tchaikovsky that one might more often expect from a Russian orchestra.

On this album, there are also two sets of Tchaikovsky’s songs, in arrangements for piano and violin in which Nézet-Séguin at the piano is joined by violinist Lisa Batiashvili, whose interpretation is informed by her understanding of the original Russian texts.