Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, as is so often the case with the composer, shows weight and poise behind its dainty and enchanting exterior and presents an attractive challenge even to major performers. Also making it a masterpiece is its amazing difficulty, which at the same time presents an extraordinarily rewarding task for the soloist. The form and character of the movements of the Fifth Symphony could be described as traditional, with the 'man of action' in the sharp contrasts of the opening movement followed by the ideal of the 'contemplative man' in the slow one. The playful waltz of the third movement presents homo ludens, man at play, resolved by the merging of the lonely individual into a larger group. The central theme heard at the start of the work returns later in various forms, functioning as a memento mori in the second and third movements and, transposed into a major key, as a final triumphal march in the finalé.

Presented by: Hungarian Radio Art Groups