# Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini



## Celesta (May 4, 2013)

I'm a Tchaikovskyphile and one of my favorite works is his symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini. I don't care much for the first section or the finale, but the central section has one of the most romantic melody sequences by this master melodist. I own the Chailly/Cleveland Orchestra recording and love it. Recently I discovered on YouTube Mravinsky's/Leningrad PO and its stunning -- such an intense performance with the love music virtually throbbing in the strings. I've also heard the Svetlanov on YouTube, another beautiful performance.

What are your favorite Francescas and why?


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

*Svetlanov* with the Russian Federation Symphony (Canyon). It's a very stirring reading in the outer sections (pretty damning), and profoundly beautiful in the middle. This team owns this great work in my estimation.

Another performance that is so worthy of mention is *Fedoseyev's* one with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra (formerly the Moscow Radio & Television Large Symphony). Not as gripping as Svetlanov's, but close. Here's the performance courtesy of Youtube.





Another recording is *Stokowski's* with the NY Stadium Symphony (a freelance orchestra). A lot of people swear by it and I can't argue with that. The recording somewhat betrays the otherwise thrilling playing, but in some ways, it is something of a trailblazer. It's re-issued by Everest.


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## maestro267 (Jul 25, 2009)

The outer sections are amazing! Tchaikovsky's at his best when he's tempestuous! The conclusion in particular. TEN final E minor chords, each accented with a fatal gong strike.


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## Queen of the Nerds (Dec 22, 2014)

Celesta said:


> I'm a Tchaikovskyphile.


In that case, will you please join the Tchaikovsky Lovers' Society, here on TalkClassical?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I´d recommend checking out Ovchinnikov´s ultra-feverish version. I also have Stokowski (NY Stadium & LSO), Mravinsky, Rozhdestvensky, Svetlanov and Fedoseyev.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Celesta said:


> I'm a Tchaikovskyphile and one of my favorite works is his symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini. I don't care much for the first section or the finale, but the central section has one of the most romantic melody sequences by this master melodist.


I believe Tchaikovsky himself favored this work above most of his other pieces. To really appreciate it, though, you have to hear it in terms of the Dante _Divine Comedy _(Canto V of_ Inferno_) which inspired the music. That ragged, stormy music that frames the central lyrical theme is the music of Dante's great Hellish whirlwind that buffets round the souls of those sinners who were illicit lovers, as were Francesca and Paolo who are the central characters of Canto (Chapter 5) of the Dante poem. You see, Dante's punishments had a magnificent two-fold effect -- they were suitable to the particular sin they punished, and they were sustained by the sinners themselves. Why a whirlwind, you ask? Well, illicit lovers are folks who cannot control themselves (and their emotions), so in Dante's Hell they are punished by being out of control of themselves, forever blown about in the violent tornado of the second circle of Hell. This is what Dante scholars identify as contrapasso -- a kind of "just punishment".

And how do the sinners themselves sustain their own punishment? Well ... wind is caused by the collision of hot and cold air masses. Dante's Hell is a cold place, with a frozen lake at its very center, a lake into which Lucifer himself is frozen. And the coldness of Hell actually results from the Devil Lucifer flapping his giant wings in order to try to get out of the ice, but causing a great cold airflow. When this cold air meets the heated passions of the illicit lovers in the next to topmost circle of Hell, the whirlwind is created. The collision of heat and cold.

Dante's imagination was staggering.

Tchaikovsky well captures the essence of that unbearable wind in the introductory music of the symphonic poem named for the hapless lady trapped within it. I used to think the wind music went on too long, but I came to realize that that is exactly the point.

The poignant melody of the central portion of the symphonic poem, played first on a woody, reedy clarinet, lacks the warmth that, say, an oboe might give the music. But there can really be no joy in Francesca's story, and her melody is one of lament.

Keep in mind that Francesca and her lover Paolo were actual people. Francesca had been married by arrangement to Paolo's unattractive older brother who, when he found out about his wife and brother's love affair, had them killed. He may have done the actual murder himself. It's interesting to note that in Dante's poem Francesca remarks that an even lower level of Hell awaits her husband who, at the time Dante wrote the poem, in the early 1300s, was still alive.

Tchaikovsky closes his musical portrait with the same winds that begin the work. As in Dante's poem, after Francesca is done telling her story (which she was temporarily whisked out of the wind to do at Dante the Pilgrim's command -- Dante wrote himself into the poem!) she is taken back into the wild winds to blow around there beside her lover Paolo, doomed forever.

It is interesting to note that the two lovers do get to remain basically side by side through the ordeal. Dante seemed rather sympathetic towards them and treats them perhaps better than any others in his Hell world. Could it be that Dante sympathized with illicit lovers? (The Comedy, after all, is dedicated not to Dante's own wife -- an arranged marriage -- but to a woman named Beatrice whom it is believed Dante loved from a distance most of his life, carrying the torch for her even after she died).

So, enjoy this music. All of it. Tchaikovsky certainly did. And I think Dante would have liked it, too.


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## Pchai (Oct 6, 2020)

Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. They build the climaxes well. The parts are clearly stated, I think a lot of conductors miss much by making the melody too prominent. Tchaikovsky's harmonies often added to the excitement by the the interesting rhythms they offered. This performance plays the romantic middle section flawlessly and lets the beast loose in the hellish torment sections. And yet, Muti never lets the rubatos of the "melody" get ahead of the underlying harmonies, as too many conductors do. Chaos is controlled, and therefore it is quite powerful.


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## Bill Cooke (May 20, 2017)

My introduction to this piece was with Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic orchestra. I've heard a few Francescas since then, but Bernstein remains my favorite when it comes to those hair-raising, crashing chords of the finale. Stokowski with the Stadium Symphony of New York is another great one.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

My favorite symphonic poem by Tchaikovsky.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

A noisy, bombastic, repetive schock-fest; and I love every bar. For recordings: Temirkanov on RCA. He's uninhibited and a truly romantic conductor in the best sense. The orchestral colors are wonderful in that Russian manner, and the recorded sound sure packs a wallop. A second choice would be Rostropovich - older recording, in ADD, but for much the same reason. If I could have a live recording it would have be one done by Leonard Bernstein in Los Angeles some 40 years back; that reading is still burned in my brain it was so passionate.


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## Joachim Raff (Jan 31, 2020)

One version that tends to get overlooked is Philharmonia Orchestra/Carlo Maria *Giulini* (EMI) which can purchased with his legendary recording of the 6th Symphony. Plenty of feeling in this version and Giulini was one of best romantic conductors.

My favourite of all time is *Svetlanov* with Russian State Symphony Orchestra (MEL). All course there is a play off with the sound. The usual low frequencies do tend to suffer but the mid and upper ranges are acceptable and I think better than the Stokowski recording.

My second favourite would be *Maazel* /New Philharmonia Orchestra. Sonics are quite something and alot better than the Svetlanov.

If you want one with modern sound go for Antonio Pappano (EMI/warner). Its an acceptable performance but the sound is super quality


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Pchai said:


> Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra. They build the climaxes well. The parts are clearly stated, I think a lot of conductors miss much by making the melody too prominent. Tchaikovsky's harmonies often added to the excitement by the the interesting rhythms they offered. This performance plays the romantic middle section flawlessly and lets the beast loose in the hellish torment sections. And yet, Muti never lets the rubatos of the "melody" get ahead of the underlying harmonies, as too many conductors do. Chaos is controlled, and therefore it is quite powerful.


The last section is ruined because of the conductor's rush. It was a real disappointment when I heard it. All the tension and drama got lost. Those last chords have to be accentuated as much as possible, like a cataclysm.


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## Bill Cooke (May 20, 2017)

I just sampled a bunch of different versions on Spotify and Igor Markevitch on DG really stood out. It's one of the most exciting renditions I've ever heard.


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