Essential Tchaikovsky

Most humans love a good whine. Even glass half-filled optimists may find something to complain about. A good whine each now and then is preferent to good spirits.

People like to complain. It’s as if there’s an addiction to the cocaine of complaint. Whether it’s politicians, public transport, or the time and goodnatured tolerance it takes to receive the advertised client service, complaining is sooooo 21st Century.

There are probably good reasons for numerous of the complaints. I considered my complaint justified when a so-called service provider didn’t live up to it is promise. My complaint may have made me feel better, and it surely introduced me to the finish works of Tchaikovsky as I waited to speak to a real live person, but not one thing has changed that I may attribute to my call. The company concerned is into making $$$$, not responding to or satisfying my complaint.

One of the main causes of whingeing and complaining is unfulfilled expectations. The outstanding Jesuit writer, philosopher, and theologian Tony De Mello, commended that we respond to complaint-causing events by saying, ‘That’s the way life is’. According to De Mello, if I suppose a person to behave in a peculiar way (a politician, say) and fail to negotiate or talk about my expected values with him or her, then the problem is not with the politician but with my expectations. It is far more procreative for me to respond with, ‘That’s the way life is’ than whine and complain regarding my unfulfilled expectations. Who else cares, anyhow?

Having expected values is OK, but if you suppose others to satisfy your expectations, be prepared to be disappointed-unless, of course, you have negotiated those expected values with the person or humans concerned.

If you don’t want to be on the receiving-end of complaints, there are two necessities that you will have to do:

1. Do as you say.

2. Finish what you start.

Nothing cheezes-off people more than broken promises. It so easy to commit to taking galore queer action, but you ought to provide the necessary follow-through. Setting-out with gusto on a new project is understandable, but the basi motivation may soon dissipate. You will have to do what’s necessary to finish what you’ve started.

Some humans will proceed to whine and complain as long as those behavings achieve their desired outcomes. For the majority of us, however, altering or negotiating expected values will add years to our lives and increase our success-rate numerous times over.

Essential Tchaikovsky 2 Pic

Essential Tchaikovsky 2 Photo

Essential Tchaikovsky 2 Pic

Essential Tchaikovsky 2 Image

Essential Tchaikovsky 2 Image

Essential Tchaikovsky 2 Picture

Most helpful customer reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Cannot imagine a better compilation
By D. M. Paine
To me this is the best possible way to present Tchaikovsky in just 2 discs. Usually I hate it when a piece, like his Piano Concerto #1, is broken up, as you hear two movements of it in different places on disc 1. But in this package, the selections meld seemlessly, almost as if they were written to be played in this sequence.
All his great music is here, including March Slave which of course is a great way to close CD 1, and the best from his ballets, for which he is most famous. Let’s face it only a hard-core would sit and listen to an entire ballet. A few excellent slices from his symphonies and tone-poems as well, especially the exquisit Andante Cantabile.
If you are on a budget like me, or just want to start learning about this eccentric genius, get this package. The next albums to purchase might be Symphony #4 or a set of short suites from his ballets.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
Best of the best
By A
There’s something for every Tchaikovsky lover on this disc. From Swan Lake to Onegin, many of Tchaikovsky’s most-known melodies are on this disc. I’d have preferred more than an excerpt of the first movement of Piano Concerto No. 1, but this disc is a great introduction to Tchaikovsky’s works.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
not how to do a classical compilation
By A Dinosaur-Shaped Car
Some labels, like Philips, get “best of” releases right: they include a few whole pieces in their entirety rather than excerpts from a dozen different works. Compilations of little samples like this look more expansive, but you fail to get the full picture of any of the symphonies, concertos, string quartets, etc. by hearing one movement or less. Classical music is about thematic development, so it can’t be cut up into little pop “hit singles” for the ADD generation and remain meaningful.

It’s got the full Marche Slave, Elegy In G For Strings, parts of ballets that would be too long to include in full anyway, etc.–so it’s not totally without merit, but it’s not ideal either.

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