Release Date: 01 January 2006
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943484524
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: TCHAIKOVSKY
Description
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)Dances and OverturesPyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky retains his position as themost popular of all Russian composers. His musicoffers obvious charms in its winning melodies and vividorchestral colours. At the same time his achievement isdeeper than this, however tempting it may be for thefew to despise what so many people enjoy.Born in Kamsko-Votkinsk in 1840, the second sonof a mining engineer, Tchaikovsky had his earlyeducation, in music as in everything else, at home,under the care of his mother and of a beloved governess.From the age of ten he was a pupil at the School ofJurisprudence in St Petersburg, completing his studiesthere in 1859, to take employment in the Ministry ofJustice. During these years he developed his abilities asa musician and it must have seemed probable that, likehis near contemporaries Mussorgsky, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, he would keep music as asecondary occupation, while following his officialcareer.For Tchaikovsky matters turned out differently. Thefoundation of the new Conservatory of Music in StPetersburg under Anton Rubinstein enabled him tostudy there as a full-time student from 1863. In 1865 hemoved to Moscow as a member of the staff of the newConservatory established there by Anton Rubinstein'sbrother Nikolay. For over ten years he continued inMoscow, before financial assistance from a rich widow,Nadezhda von Meck, enabled him to leave theConservatory and devote himself entirely tocomposition. The same period in his life brought anunfortunate marriage to a self-proclaimed admirer of hiswork, a woman who showed early signs of mentalinstability and could only add further to Tchaikovsky'sown problems of character and inclination. Hishomosexuality was a torment to him, while his morbidsensitivity and diffidence, coupled with physicalrevulsion for the woman he had married, led to a severenervous breakdown.Separation from his wife, which was immediate,still left practical and personal problems to be solved.Tchaikovsky's relationship with Nadezhda von Meck,however, provided not only the money that at first wasnecessary for his career, but also the understanding andsupport of a woman who, so far from making physicaldemands of him, never even met him face to face. Thiscuriously remote liaison and patronage only came to anend in 1890, when, on the false plea of bankruptcy, shediscontinued an allowance that was no longer ofimportance and a correspondence on which he hadcome to depend.Tchaikovsky's sudden death in St Petersburg in1893 gave rise to contemporary speculation and hasgiven rise to further posthumous rumours. It has beensuggested that he committed suicide as the result ofpressure from a court of honour of former students ofthe School of Jurisprudence, when an allegedly eroticliaison with a young nobleman seemed likely to causean open scandal even in court circles. Officially hisdeath was attributed to cholera, contracted afterdrinking undistilled water. Whether the victim o
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yaqi Yang; Margarita Parsamyan; Robynne Redmon; Minghao Liu; Frank Ragsdale; Kim Josephson; Kevin S
Vilmos Csikos; Olivier Lechardeur; Manon Lamaison
Tomas Cotik; Martingale Ensemble; Ken Selden
