Capriccio Italien, op. 45 / Capriccio Espagnol, op. 34

Album by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky & Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky‐Korsakov & Kirill Kondrashin & RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra

Capriccio Italien, Op. 45, and Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 are orchestral works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1880 and 1887 respectively. Both pieces are colourful, virtuosic orchestral showpieces that draw on Italian and Spanish musical idioms within Tchaikovsky's late-Romantic language, notable for bright orchestration, rhythmic dance-like passages and an emphasis on wind and percussion colour, and they exemplify his use of national elements and orchestral brilliance in his mature output.