The piece of includes 5 Italian tunes organized as follows: ABABCDAEBE. Apparently two of these themes are clearly identifiable Italian folk melodies.
A is a trumpet call Tchaikovsky heard every morning from the barracks near his hotel in Italy in 1880 (Hotel Constanzi in Rome). It is presented with two trumpets opening the tune and then a fanfare for the brass and then follows:
B a solemn darker melody with its brass rhythmic interjection. Kind of a funeral march.Tchaikovsky has to give a romantic vibe by repeating the tune with oboe playing it. Flute imitation of the tune is beautiful and characteristic of Tchaikovsky. It gets to a climax with a return to opening trumpet call and after another presentation of the march by English horn and bassoon through a bass transition we hear the next tune: C.
C is a swaying dance in 6/8 presented with two oboes in third, then two trumpets in third. The string passages after each motive is again another Tchaikovsky characteristic orchestra writing. When the violins play the tune wood winds response with the passages. This reaches another Tchikovskian climax that leads the piece to: D.
D is another dance in "aba" form. Some people think of it as being more Spanish than Italian? What do Italians say? A horn call transitions the piece back to the opening funeral march (A). Here we remember one of the transitional passages from 1812 overture. Then comes the tarantella (E).
E is the vivid tarantella (also known in Italy as the traditional Cicuzza) and provides the material for Capriccio's dramatic coda. This one is the second identifiable folk tune. Tchaikovsky develops the dance by repeating the tune forward and backwards. Here the excitement builds until with repetition of the 6/8 dance and then we reach another characteristic dramatic ending from Tchaikovsky in Coda when the tarantella comes back. This sounds like the coda of Symphony No.4.
The first performance I heard was played by BPO under Karajan. I have also listened to Solti's rendition with the CSO and BBC PO under... Just saw it on DVD with Kurt Masur conducting Gewandhaus Leipzig orchestra. You can get lots of details while watching it performed. I still have to check out the score.
Let's look at some performance reviews from BBC Music Magazine:
Tchaikovsky
Composer(s):
- Tchaikovsky
Works:
Manfred; Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture; The Tempest; Serenade in C; Capriccio italien
Performer:
USSR SO/Evgeny Svetlanov
Tchaikovsky
Composer(s):
- Tchaikovsky
Titles:
Tchaikovsky
Works:
Symphony No. 5; Capriccio Italien; The Voyevoda
Performer:
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi
Tchaikovsky
Composer(s):
- Tchaikovsky
Works:
Capriccio Italien; Francesca da Rimini; Romeo and Juliet; 1812 Overture
Performer:
Israel PO/Leonard Bernstein
Tchaikovsky
Composer(s):
- Tchaikovsky
Works:
Symphony No. 5 in E minor; Capriccio italien
Performer:
LSO/Gennadi Rozhdestvensky