Published on Primephonic 12 June 2018. With his unerring gift for gripping drama, exuberant orchestration, piquant harmonies and large, memorable tunes, Piotr Tchaikovsky was a hugely popular and influential composer. But even as he cranked out one masterpiece after another, he was plagued with doubts and he occasionally destroyed musical scores that he was unhappy…
Tag: Tchaikovsky
Press releases: November 2016
(1) Rachmaninov & Prokofiev: Works for Cello and Piano (2) Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites for Piano Duo (3) Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben / Macbeth
Composers and the Demon Drink
Theirs was not an auspicious first meeting. The young Johannes Brahms was on a walking holiday en route to visiting Robert and Clara Schumann, when he stopped at Weimar in June 1853 to hear Franz Liszt give a private performance of his magisterial Piano Sonata in B minor, a work now regarded as one of…
Visiting Bayreuth
Tchaikovsky was distinctly unimpressed with the new Festspielhaus (Festival Theatre) in the small Bavarian town of Bayreuth when he visited there in 1876 for the opening season. With its innovative design of a 1,925 seat auditorium resembling a classical amphitheatre (including a covered orchestra pit), the acoustics were tailor made for Wagner’s ambitious operas.
Review: Tchaikovsky Selections
Pletnev’s masterly survey of Tchaikovsky’s orchestral works with the Russian National Orchestra continues with this stunning recording of some of his most famous works in performances which will delight fans and win over sceptics.