Players Ponder Tchaikovsky's Cello Masterwork
Considering the pros and cons of Variations on a Rococo Theme
From the time I was a hopeful young cello student, I have been in love with the fantastic mixture of elegance and passion that is Piotr Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme for violoncello and orchestra in A major, Op. 33. It is a Romantic piece that holds a strange, special magic. One hundred and thirty one years after its premiere, and just a few decades after the reemergence of the original version, the work is still a highly popular performance piece and a linchpin of the standard cello repertoire—acclaimed newcomer Sol Gabetta recently selected it for her 2007 Sony debut. Audiences enjoy being ravished by the Variations' gorgeous sounds and the thrilling techniques made by charismatic cellists who play it, their hair blowing in the allegorical musical winds. Quite simply, as Steven Isserlis put it, "It's pure Tchaikovsky. It's such a pity Tchaikovsky didn't live long enough to write the cello concerto he was planning at the time of his death."
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