Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

He begins with an exploration of music written and performed in 1876, the year before Tchaikovsky's short and catastrophic marriage.

Swan Lake (Act 1 Waltz)

Montreal Symphony Orchestra

Charles Dutoit (conductor)

Decca 436 212-2 CD1, Tr 2

String Quartet No 3 (excerpt, 3rd mvt)

Borodin Quartet

Teldec 4509 90433-3 CD2, Tr 7

Cherevichki (Act 1 Sc 2)

Oskana - Ekaterina Morozova (soprano)

Vakula - Valery Popov (tenor)

Orchestra of the Cagliari Lyric Theatre

Gennady Rozhdestvensky (conductor)

CDS 287/1-3 CD1, Tr 5

Francesca da Rimini

London Symphony Orchestra

Igor Markevitch (conductor)

BBCL 4053-2, Tr 1.

Donald Macleod looks at Tchaikovsky's music written and performed in 1876.

In 1877, Tchaikovsky took a sudden decision to get married. He wasn't the first or last homosexual man to do so, but the repercussions were calamitous, and the event triggered a crisis from which some believe Tchaikovsky never fully recovered. However, this was also the year of two superlative pieces of music, both awash with references that listeners have since interpreted as autobiographical.

Eugene Onegin (excerpt from the Introduction)

Orchestre de Paris

Semyon Bychkov (conductor)

Philips 438 235-2 CD1, Tr 1

Eugene Onegin (excerpt from the Letter Scene, Act 1)

Tatyana - Nuccia Focile (soprano)

Philips 438 235-2 CD1, Tr 11

Eugene Onegin (excerpt from Act 1 conclusion)

Eugene Onegin - Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone)

St Petersburg Chamber Choir

Philips 438 235-2 CD1, Trs 14-15

Symphony No 4 in F minor (excerpt from 1st mvt)

Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra

Evgeny Mravinsky (conductor)

DG 419 745-2 CD1, Tr 1

Eugene Onegin (excerpt from Act 3 conclusion)

Philips 438 235-2 CD2, Tr 15.

Donald Macleod explores 1877, the year of Tchaikovsky's disastrous marriage.

1877 had been a wretched year for Tchaikovsky. His marriage had gone hideously wrong in a matter of days and had left deep emotional scars. But the following year, things began to look up. He left his job at the Moscow Conservatoire, which had been a millstone around his neck, and correspondence now flourished between Tchaikovsky and his 'best friend', the wealthy widow Nadhezda von Meck. The fact that he was now solvent, owing to a monthly allowance from her, must have helped.

Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (excerpt, The Lord's Prayer)

St Petersburg Chamber Choir

Nikolai Korniev (conductor)

Philips 473 069-2 CD1, Tr 8

Maid of Orleans (excerpt from Act 1 conclusion)

Joan of Arc - Sofia Preobrazhenskaya (soprano)

Orchestra and Chorus of the Kirov

Boris Khaikin (conductor)

MYTO 992.H028 CD1, Trs 8-10

Violin Concerto in D, Op 35

Gidon Kremer (violin)

Berlin Philharmonic

Lorin Maazel (conductor)

DG 459 043-2, Trs 1-3

Amid the din of the ball; It was in the early spring, Op 38

Joan Rodgers (soprano)

Roger Vignoles (piano)

Hyperion CDA 66617, Tr 5.

Donald Macleod explores 1878, which was a happier year for Tchaikovsky.

I don't think the piece has any serious merits, and I shan't be the slightest bit surprised or offended if you find it unsuitable for concert performance,' said Tchaikovsky of his 1812 Overture.

Donald considers how the 1880s began for Tchaikovsky, with this outlandish piece of Russian pomp and circumstance - it was brash, vulgar and militaristic, but popular with British audiences, possibly owing to the musical dispatching of Napoleon's armies.

But there were also with more refined masterpieces such as the Serenade for Strings and a look further back into Russian history through his opera Mazeppa.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Georg Solti (conductor)

Decca 417 400-2

USSR State Symphony Orchestra

Evgeny Svetlanov (conductor)

Scribendum SC 024 CD5, Trs 5-8

Mazeppa (Mazeppa's aria from Act 2)

Mazeppa - Sergei Leiferkus (baritone)

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Neeme Jarvi (conductor)

DG 439 906-2 CD2, Tr 3.

Donald Macleod considers how the 1880s began for Tchaikovsky, with his 1812 Overture.

For Tchaikovsky, who was not the most prolific composer, 1890 was an astonishing year. A few days after the premiere of Sleeping Beauty, he set off for Florence, where he completed his opera Queen of Spades at breakneck speed in just 43 days. Donald Macleod dips into the opera and also enjoys Tchaikovsky's other Souvenir of Florence.

Queen of Spades (excerpt from Overture)

Kirov Orchestra, St Petersburg

Valery Gergiev (conductor)

Philips 438 141-2 CD1, Tr 1

Souvenir de Florence

Yuri Yurov (viola)

Mikhail Milman (cello)

Borodin Quartet

Teldec 4509 90422-2 CD1, Trs 6-9

Queen of Spades (Act 3, Sc 2)

Liza - Maria Gulegina (soprano)

Herman - Gegam Grigorian (tenor)

Kirov Chorus and Orchestra, St Petersburg

Philips 438 141-2 CD3, Trs 6-7

Sleeping Beauty (Waltz)

Philharmonia Orchestra

Herbert von Karajan (conductor)

EMI 476 899-2, Tr 8.

Donald Macleod explores 1891 which, for Tchaikovsky, saw the premiere of Sleeping Beauty.

In 1878, Tchaikovsky was at the pinnacle of the early part of his career. Over the previous few years, masterpiece after masterpiece had flowed from his pen - including the masterful violin concerto, Fourth Symphony and opera 'Eugene Onegin'.

Yet.just as he seemed poised to capitalise on this tremendous success, his world fell apart. Following a sham marriage to a crazed fan - which he had hastily agreed to in the hope of hiding his own homosexuality - Tchaikovsky fled his home, escaped the life he had so carefully established, and wandered as a lost soul around Europe.

For the next decade he would compose nothing in the genres that had made him famous - no ballets, no symphonies (at least none in the conventional sense) - indeed, almost nothing that's regularly played in the concert hall today. Instead, Tchaikovsky embarked on a little-performed series of songs, piano and chamber works - even dabbling with the genres of oratorio and mass.

He also made a series of bold experiments in form - writing a set of genre-defying orchestral suites, concertante works for soloist and orchestra, and his only programme symphony - 'Manfred' - a work that was to cause him more anguish than any other work. Yet.on the other hand were written two of Tchaikovsky's most popular - yet much-derided - orchestral 'lollipops'- the Overture '1812' and Capriccio Italien.

In 1888, after a decade of wandering, Tchaikovsky was to return to Russia and embark on his late series of great works - 'Sleeping Beauty', 'The Nutcracker', and the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. This week though, Donald Macleod makes a rare excursion into the rich rarities of this lost decade.

We begin the week with the works that followed in the aftermath of the composer's disastrous marriage, including charming, childlike works for violin and piano solo, and one of Tchaikovsky's least known major works - his choral setting of the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom.

Donald Macleod explores music from the aftermath of Tchaikovsky's disastrous marriage.

In today's episode Donald Macleod presents perhaps Tchaikovsky's greatest chamber work - the Piano Trio, written in memory of his friend and colleague - as well as an excerpt from his glorious 'All-Night Vigil', composed for the Russian Orthodox Church.

Donald Macleod focuses on the year 1881, a troubled period in Tchaikovsky's life.

Meanwhile, the composer was struggling with what was to become perhaps his favourite opera - though one little performed today: the tale of the Cossack warrior Mazeppa.

Donald Macleod presents excerpts from the opera, as well as a complete performance of Tchaikovsky's Second Suite for Orchestra - as the composer ditched his familiar symphonic form for a daring new exploration of dance, melody and colour.

Donald Macleod explores the difficult events of the year 1883.

Donald Macleod presents the curious tale of one of the strangest works in the great composer's entire output, and introduces another bold experiment from Tchaikovsky's 'lost decade' - his two-movement 'Concert Fantasia' for piano and orchestra.

Donald Macleod on the curious Moscow Cantata and the two-movement Concert Fantasia.

At first, the composer adored his programmatic 'Manfred Symphony' of 1885. Inspired by Lord Byron's poem, the process of writing the piece took him several anguished months - and yet, just a few months after he'd basked in satisfaction at its premiere, Tchaikovsky was to reject it forever. 'Abominable', he said. 'I loathe it deeply'.

Since then, the work's been a pariah - included almost apologetically on box sets of complete Tchaikovsky symphonies. Time for a re-evaluation; Donald Macleod presents a rare complete performance by the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev.

Donald Macleod re-evaluates Tchaikovsky's controversial Manfred Symphony of 1885.

Despite his obvious musical talents, Tchaikovsky decided to pursue a career in law. In this first programme, Donald Macleod tells how the young government clerk eventually overcame his doubts and became a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Donald then follows him to Moscow, where Tchaikovsky took on a new teaching job and his first significant love affair.

Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin, Entr'acte and Waltz

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Neeme J䀀rvi, conductor

BIS SACD-1468, CD1 tk10

Tchaikovsky: My genius, my angel

Ljuba Kazarnovskaya, soprano

Ljuba Orfenova, piano

Naxos, 8555371, CD1 tk2

Tchaikovsky: Piano Sonata in C# minor Op.80, II. Andante

Leslie Howard, piano

Helios, CDH55215, CD1 tk3

Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture

Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

Deutsche Grammophon, 4779355, CD1 tk3

Tchaikovsky: Voyevoda, Act III: 'Get them! Let's go into the house Maryal!' - 'Glory, glory to the Russian heart!

The Academic Big Choir of Central Television and All-Union-Radio

USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra

Vladimir Kozhukhar, conductor

Melodiya

MEL CD 1001869/2, CD2 tks15-17.

Donald Macleod looks at Tchaikovsky's student years.

Donald Macleod discusses two women who had a profound impact on Tchaikovsky's life.

A sensitive, emotionally fragile boy, Tchaikovsky was sent to a boarding school where life was harsh. After leaving school, he became a government clerk in the Ministry of Justice. His disillusionment at work though eventually led to him studying music in night classes at the St Petersburg conservatoire, even though a professional career in music was rare in Russia. His studies eventually took over as his full-time occupation, and the evolution of one the greatest composers of all had started.

In the late 19th century, a number of Russian musicians were attempting to turn the tide of Western European influence, and create a new, distinctively Russian, style of music. Tchaikovsky managed to embrace both traditions. A lover of folk music, his early compositions were often inspired by national tunes. His First String Quartet was a stunning success - the second movement was an instant hit all over Europe.

Why a career in music seemed a distant dream for the young Tchaikovsky.

Homosexuallity was technically illegal in 19th century Russia, and certainly frowned upon. Perhaps that's why Tchaikovsky felt compelled to marry, much to the horror of his closest friends and family. The marriage was a disaster, leading to terrible consequences for both sides. Around the same time, Tchaikovsky was developing a highly unusual relationship with another woman - an admirer of his music. This rich widow became his benefactor and occasional counsellor; a significant presence in his life almost until his death.

Discussing some of the most significant women in Tchaikovsky's life.

Tchaikovsky was stuck in a marriage that was founded on a huge misunderstanding. He was gay and had thought that the union was a mutually agreeable arrangement. However, his wife did not understand at all, and remained under the delusion that Tchaikovsky loved her. His struggles with their hopeless relationship drove both to unbearable mental anquish.

Whilst all this was going on Tchaikovsky was fꀀted in Russia, composing his 1812 overture and his ballet Swan Lake. He was now in a position to stop teaching at the conservatoire and make his living composing full-time.

How, as Tchaikovsky's reputation was growing, his personal life was becoming intolerable.

The disastrous marriage Tchaikovsky had entered into still cast a long shadow. His estranged wife had become pregnant by another man and dumped the child in an orphanage. Even though he could now divorce her easily Tchaikovsky still did not trust her not to make his homosexuality public.

There was more angst and heartache. His long-standing servant, with whom he had become deeply attached, was conscripted into the army, leaving Tchaikovsky bereft. Later his teacher and life-long friend Rubinstein died and then Tchaikovsky's sister became addicted to morphine.

Whilst his personal life remained turbulent, Tchaikovsky's musical career continued its trajectory. The new Tsar invited Tchaikovsky to write his coronation music, confirming him as Russia's pre-eminent composer.

How, despite great personal difficulties, Tchaikovsky became Russia's most feted composer.

In his latter years Tchaikovsky was a living legend, accepted as one of the greatest musicians on the planet. The Tsar had awarded Tchaikovsky an annual allowance making life very comfortable and rewarding for him.

The unrest of his private life, in previous years, had largely settled but he was thrown by the abrupt ending of his friendship with his benefactor. The relationship, which was conducted through letters only, was ended by her with little explanation - this was something that troubled Tchaikovsky endlessly.

Compositions still flowed from him, producing what became some of the world's favourite music. Tchaikovsky travelled across Europe and to America to conduct and receive awards.

His funeral was a huge occasion in Moscow. As time passed, conjecture about the facts behind Tchaikovsky's death grew and grew to colossal proportions.

Exploring Tchaikovsky's last years and the rumours and theories surrounding his demise.

Before Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write the music for a ballet about a flight of swan-maidens afloat on a lake of tears and the love-struck prince who sets them free, Russian ballet music had traditionally been the province of jobbing 'specialists' rather than fully-fledged art-composers. Tchaikovsky's initial inspiration was largely financial, and he came to the project with little understanding of how to write music to be danced to. But he was a quick student, and soon began to warm to his brief - in the process producing some of his most memorable music. His piano suite The Seasons - actually a sequence of 12 pieces, one for each month of the year - was largely written in moments stolen from his work on Swan Lake.

The Seasons, Op 37b - December (Christmas)

Mikhail Pletnev, piano

Swan Lake, Op 20 - Act 2

Orchestre Symphonique de Montr退al

Charles Dutoit, conductor

The Seasons, Op 37b:

January (By the Fireside)

February (Carnival)

June (Barcarolle)

August (Harvest Time)

September (The Hunt)

November (Troika)

Produced by Chris Barstow.

Should there be a tempest in The Tempest? That was one of Tchaikovsky's questions for the leading Russian art and music critic Vladimir Stasov, who had asked the composer what his next work would be. Tchaikovsky had several ideas in mind, and it was Stasov who pushed him in the direction of Shakespeare's tale of shipwreck on Prospero's enchanted isle. Stasov was very much of the opinion that Tchaikovsky should indeed include music depicting said severe weather event, and he obliged magnificently. Severe weather was also a feature of the scenario for Francesca da Rimini, which tells in music the story of Francesca, the beautiful daughter of a noble Italian family, and her lover Paolo, whose adulterous love affair was rewarded with punishment in the second circle of hell, lashed for all eternity by terrible whirlwinds.

The Tempest - symphonic fantasia after Shakespeare, Op 18

Berlin Philharmonic

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Cradle Song, Op 16 No 1

Joan Rodgers, soprano

Roger Vignoles, piano

Francesca da Rimini - symphonic fantasia after Dante, Op 32

Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra

Evgeny Mravinsky, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow.

No-one likes a cast-off, and Tchaikovsky was no exception. At first that extended even to the libretto his beloved brother Modest had written for the now almost completely forgotten composer Nikolay Klenovsky, based on Pushkin's short story The Queen of Spades. The collaboration was aborted and the libretto became available. Initially Tchaikovsky was dismissive, but he came round to the idea and set to work with gusto. The story concerns a gambling-addicted army officer, Hermann, who's in love with Lisa. Lisa's guardian, an old countess, is reputedly in possession of a failsafe formula for winning at cards, but when Hermann tries to force it out of her she dies of fright. The Queen of Spades wasn't an ace in the hole at its first performance in December 1890, but critical hostility quickly receded, and it's retained a firm place in the repertoire ever since. The same is true of the ballet Tchaikovsky completed immediately beforehand - The Sleeping Beauty. Tsar Alexander II achieved almost British levels of understatement when, after attending a special dress rehearsal of the complete ballet, he gave his considered opinion: 'very nice'.

The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66; Act 3 No 22, Polacca

Russian National Orchestra

Mikhail Pletnev, conductor

The Queen of Spades, Op 68 - Act 3 scene 1

Misha Didyk, tenor (Herman)

Larissa Diadkova, mezzo soprano (Ghost of the Countess)

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

Mariss Jansons, conductor

The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66; Act 1

Mikhail Pletnev, conductor.

In the early part of 1873, Moscow's Maly Theatre was closed for renovation. While the works were being completed, the company shared a stage with the the opera and ballet companies of the Bolshoi, which gave rise to the idea of a 'spectacular' production involving all three troupes. A fairy-tale subject was agreed on - The Snow Maiden - and Tchaikovsky was approached to write the incidental music. He completed it in record time - 19 numbers in a single month. His next project, a comic fantasy set in an imaginary Ukrainian village, took far longer to finish - 11 years. This was Vakula the Smith or, as it later became, Cherevichki, based on Gogol's play Christmas Night. Tchaikovsky came to regard it as 'musically well-nigh my best opera', but sadly neither contemporary audiences nor posterity have agreed with this judgement. When Tchaikovsky played through his new piano concerto for his friend and mentor Nikolai Rubinstein, once again the reaction wasn't the one he had hoped for: 'bad ... vulgar ... absolutely unplayable ... utterly worthless' - a misjudgement that must be up there with Decca turning down The Beatles. Fortunately, Tchaikovsky stuck to his guns and published his First Piano Concerto unaltered - save for the removal of the dedication to Rubinstein. The audience at its Boston premiere loved it, as audiences have continued to do ever since.

The Snow Maiden - Introduction

MDR Sinfonieorchester

Krystian J䀀rvi, conductor

The Slippers - Act 1 scene 2 (excerpt)

Ekaterina Morosova, soprano (Oksana)

Valerij Popov, tenor (Vakula)

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari,

Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, conductor

Piano Concerto No 1 in B flat minor, Op 23

Denis Matsuev, piano

Mariinsky Orchestra

Valery Gergiev, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow.

It's a pity that so much fine music is expended on nonsense unworthy of attention', wrote the critic of the St Petersburg Gazette after the premiere. 'Infinitely poorer than The Sleeping Beauty', was Tchaikovsky's own verdict on what's proved to be probably his most popular ballet. But his lack of enthusiasm for The Nutcracker is hardly surprising, given the major headache its composition caused him. In fact Tchaikovsky became so depressed by the 'colourless, dry, hasty and wretched' music he felt he was producing that he begged the Director of the Imperial Court Theatre, Prince Vsevolozhsky, to release him from his contract. Fortunately for us, Vsevolozhsky persuaded Tchaikovsky to summon up the inner strength necessary to complete his score. Why did it give him so much trouble? Part of the problem may have lain in his initial reservations about the project - in particular what he judged to be an unsatisfactory adaptation of ETA Hoffman's original story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Alexandre Dumas senior. Tchaikovsky had no such doubts about the plot of the one-act opera that somewhat curiously shared the bill with The Nutcracker in its opening run, Iolanta - based on Henrik Hertz's one-act play King Ren退's Daughter.

The Nutcracker, Op 71; Act 2 No 14c Pas de deux: Variation II, The Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy

London Symphony Orchestra

Antal Dorကti, conductor

Iolanta, Op 69; No 6, scene and aria of Robert; No 6a, Romance of Vaud退mont

Alexey Markov, baritone (Robert)

Sergei Skorokhodov, tenor (Vaud退mont)

Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Emmanuel Villaume, conductor

The Nutcracker, Op 71; Act 1

Produced by Chris Barstow.

March: The Song of the Lark (The Seasons)

Yefim Bronfman, piano

The Tempest

Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra

Ondrej Lenard, conductor

Piano Trio, 1st movement

Smetana Trio

Finale (Symphony No 4)

Orchestra dell'Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Antonio Pappano, conductor

Donald Macleod looks at Tchaikovsky's rocky relationship with money.

Swan Lake (Act 2)

Wiener Philharmoniker

Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Eugene Onegin (Act 3, Scene 1)

Orchestre de Paris

Semyon Bychkov, conductor

Song for the Golden Jubilee of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence

Leningrad Glinka Choir

USSR State Academic Russian Choir

Alexander Sveshnikov, conductor

Vladislav Chernushenko, conductor

Piano Concerto No. 1 (1st movement)

Stephen Hough (piano)

Minnesota Orchestra

Osmo Vanska, conductor

Romeo and Juliet

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor

Producer: Martin Williams for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod on Tchaikovsky's years as a bureaucrat.

Chant sans paroles (Souvenir de Hapsal)

Viktoria Postnikova, piano

None but the Lonely Heart

Joan Rodgers, soprano

Roger Vignoles, piano

String Quartet no.1

Borodin Quartet

The Snow Maiden, First Song of Lel

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Neeme Jarvi, conductor

Finale: Moderato assai - allegro vivo - presto (Symphony No. 2)

Russian National Orchestra

Mikhail Pletnev, conductor

1812 Overture

Berlin Philharmonic

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Producer: Martin Williams for BBC Wales

Donald Macleod on Tchaikovsky and the Russian Nationalists.

Pimpinella (Romances, Op 38, No 6)

Anna Netrebko, soprano

Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre

Valery Gergiev, conductor

Valse Sentimentale

Ofra Harnoy, cello

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Charles Mackerras, conductor

Violin Concerto

Ray Chen, violin

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Daniel Harding, conductor

Danse des polichinelles et des histrions (Maid of Orleans)

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Sir Colin Davis, conductor

Souvenir de Florence (1st and 2nd movements)

Borodin Quartet

Donald Macleod traces Tchaikovsky's period of wandering.

We Sat Together

Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone)

Mikhail Arkadiev, piano)

Act 1, March (The Nutcracker)

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor

Piano Concerto No 3

Stephen Hough

Minnesota Orchestra

Osmo V䀀nsk䀀

Adagio & Waltz (The Sleeping Beauty - Suite)

Wiener Philharmoniker

Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Russian National Orchestra

Mikhail Pletnev, conductor

Donald Macleod on the puzzle of Tchaikovsky's death.

So suspend your disbelief as swans dance; a toy comes to life to battle a giant mouse king; a pair of slippers - or are they boots? - can win a maiden's heart; and the Devil can steal the moon.

The Nutcracker, Op 71 (Act 1 Scene 2, March of the Toy Soldiers)

State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia ‘Evgeny Svetlanov

Vladimir Jurowski, conductor

The Snow Maiden, Op 12 (No 2, Dance and Chorus of the Birds)

MDR Leipzig Radio Choir

MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra

Krystjan J䀀rvi, conductor

Swan Lake, Op 20 (Act 2 No 13e, Danse des cygnes: Pas d'action (Odette et le prince))

Rafael Druian, solo violin

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra

Antal Dorကti, conductor

The Slippers (Act 1 scene 2, extract - Oksana's aria)

Ekaterina Morosova, soprano (Oksana)

Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari

Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, conductor

The Sleeping Beauty, Op 66 (Act 1 No 5 (‘The Palace Garden'), No 6 (‘Valse'))

Russian National Orchestra

Mikhail Pletnev, conductor

The Nutcracker, Op 71 (Act 2 No 12, Divertissement)

Chocolate (‘Spanish Dance')

Coffee (‘Arabian Dance')

Tea (‘Chinese Dance')

Trepak (‘Russian Dance')

Dance of the Reed Pipes

Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles (‘Clowns')

Produced by Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod explores the rich vein of fairy tale and fantasy in Tchaikovsky's music.

Tchaikovsky was exposed to a wide range of literature from a very early age. His governess called him `little Pushkin` because of his sensitivity to poetry. He read voraciously - his favourites, apart from Pushkin, being Gogol, Tolstoy and Ostrovsky. He read a lot of Dostoevsky too, but it got him down. Thackeray and Dickens he read in translation - `about the only two men I forgive for being English,` he said. The writers behind today's music: Byron, Pushkin, Shakespeare, Daniil Maximovich Rathaus, and Tchaikovsky himself.

12 Romances, Op 60 (No 5, ‘Simple Words')

Konstantin Lisovsky, tenor

Svetlana Zvonareva, piano

Manfred, symphony in four scenes after Byron's dramatic poem, op 58

(2nd mvt, Vivace con spirito)

Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Andris Nelsons, conductor

Eugene Onegin, Op 24 (Act 1 scene 2)

Nuccia Focile, soprano (Tatyana)

Orchestre de Paris

Semyon Bychkov, conductor

Hamlet, overture-fantasia, Op 67

Philadelphia Orchestra

Riccardo Muti, conductor

Six Romances, Op 73 (No 2, ‘Night')

Aleksei Martynov, tenor

Aristotel Constantinidi, piano

Produced by Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod uncovers Tchaikovsky's love of literature and the writers who inspired him.

Tchaikovsky travelled widely - as far as America, where he conducted his own music at the inaugural concert of New York's Carnegie Hall in 1891. But outside of his own homeland, his destination of choice was Italy, where he returned again and again over the last two decades of his life. He loved the food, the climate, the scenery, the people and the musical culture, and several of his best-known compositions were directly inspired by the spirit of Italy, its characteristic sounds and atmospheres.

Six Romances, Op 38 (No 6, ‘La Pimpinella')

Enrico Caruso, tenor

Gaetano Scognamiglio, piano

Piano Trio in A minor, Op 50 (`In Memory of a Great Artist`)

(1st mvt, Pezzo elegiaco. Moderato assai—Allegro giusto)

Itzhak Perlman, violin

Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano

Lynn Harrell, cello

String Sextet in D minor (‘Souvenir de Florence'), Op 70

(2nd mvt, Adagio cantabile e con moto)

Quatuor Danel

Vladim퀀r Buka?, 2nd viola

Petr Prause, 2nd cello

Capriccio Italien, Op 45

Berlin Philharmonic

Ferdinand Leitner, conductor

Six Romances, Op 38 (No 2, ‘It was in the early spring')

Christianne Stotijn, mezzo-soprano

Julius Drake, piano

Produced by Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod reflects on Tchaikovsky's long-standing love affair with Italy.

`The time is approaching when Kolya, Tolya, Ippolit and Modya will no longer be Tchaikovsky, but only Tchaikovsky's brothers. Tremble, then, for my glory will soon crush you!` It must have been tough being a sibling of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as his fame increased and gradually eclipsed all the efforts of his nearest and dearest. It must have been particularly tough, though, for Modest, a minor but well-considered playwright, whose dearest wish was to collaborate with his famous elder brother on an opera. Tchaikovsky was slow to recognize his brother's talent, but circumstances eventually conspired to bring them together on what would turn out to be one of his most enduring contributions to the operatic repertoire - The Queen of Spades. After that, there would be just one more opportunity to work together: on Iolanta, a touching tale of a blind princess finding love in 15th-century Provence. After Pyotr's death, Modest threw himself into work on his brother's biography, which has been described as a combination of affectionate insight and wilful omission.

12 Pieces for Piano, Op 40 (No 1, Etude)

Mikhail Pletnev, piano

The Queen of Spades, Op 68 (Act 3 scenes 6 (conclusion) and 7)

Galina Vishnevskaya, soprano (Lisa)

Peter Gougaloff, tenor (Herman)

Heinz Kruse, tenor (Chaplitsky)

Fausto Tenzi, tenor (Chekalinsky)

Dan Iord?chescu, baritone (Count Tomsky)

Bernd Weikl, baritone (Prince Yeletzky)

Dimiter Petkov, bass (Surin)

Rudolf Alexander Sutey, bass (Narumov)

Tchaikovsky Chorus

Orchestre National de France

Mstislav Rostropovich, conductor

12 Pieces for Piano, Op 40 (No 8, ‘Valse')

Viktoria Postnikova, piano

Iolanta, Op 69 (No 7, Scene and Duet of Iolanta and Vaud退mont)

Sergei Skorokhodov, tenor (Vaud退mont)

Alexey Markov, baritone (Robert)

Anna Netrebko, soprano (Iolanta)

Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Emmanuel Villaume, conductor

Produced by Chris Barstow

Donald Macleod on Tchaikovsky's relationship with his beloved younger brother Modest.

In 19th-century Russia, music was a key strand in national identity. The God was Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, the first Russian composer to emerge fully from the shadow of the Italians - Araja, Bonnechi, Locatelli, Galuppi, Manfredini, Paisiello, Sarti, Cimarosa and others - who had been bringing their operatic tradition to St Petersburg since the first half of the previous century. Glinka's music sounded authentically ‘Russian', and set the standard that later composers either lived up to or departed from. Even during his lifetime, and at the height of his success, Tchaikovsky's music was regarded by some influential cultural commissars - in particular, one Vladimir Stasov - as being not quite Russian enough. According to Stasov, Tchaikovsky `did not carry in his musical nature the ‘national' element, and was from head to toe a cosmopolitan and eclectic.` Stravinsky, writing nearly 30 years after Tchaikovsky's death, still felt the need to defend his Russianness: `Tchaikovsky's music, which does not appear specifically Russian to everybody, is quite as Russian as Pushkin's verse or Glinka's song. While not specially cultivating in his art the ‘soul of the Russian peasant', Tchaikovsky drew unconsciously from the true, popular sources of our race.`

Sixteen Songs for Children, Op 54 (No 10, ‘Lullaby in a storm')

Joan Rogers, soprano

Roger Vignoles, piano

Scherzo