Tchaikovsky “Romeo and Juliet“ - Stokowski conducts

In 1968, during one of his European tours, Stokowski visited Lugano and recorded a studio concert for Swiss-Italian Television. One of the items was Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet“ Overture. This had run to three different editions, the second and third of which were published, due to the composer’s many revisions. In ’The Life and Letters of Tchaikovsky’ by his brother Modest, it was revealed that Balakirev objected to the loud accentuated chords at the end of the work on the grounds that they “contradicted the meaning of the play“ and were “inartistic.“ According to Modest, Tchaikovsky then supplied a quiet ending at Balakirev’s suggestion, though it was never published. Stokowski clearly knew of Balakirev’s comments and agreed with them, since he supplied an ending of his own which omitted those loud “inartistic“ chords. It is that version we hear in this Swiss-Italian Radio Orchestra performance.