Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6, "Pathétique"

Returning to the world of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony is a profound experience for me at this point in my life. There were a number of years where I had to distance myself from the symphony as I could not come to a peaceful solution as to how to give it the delicacy and vulnerability, as well as the enormous power, that it so often requires. This recording represents a stage in my thinking that is based in the world of elegance and of what I believe the word Pathétique means. To me, Tchaikovsky is saying, ‘Here is my simple story. Please listen to me and hear me.’ This Symphony, an amazingly constructed piece, is an outpouring of elegant melodic invention.

Michael Tilson Thomas

Without exaggeration, I have put my whole soul into this work.

Tchaikovsky