Ruth Leon recommends… Tchaikovsky 1 – The Creation of Greatness
Ruth Leon recommendsPeter Ilyich Tchaikovsky died 0n 6th November 1893 at his home in Klin, near St. Petersburg, at the age of 63, 113 years ago this week. He was one of the most popular composers the world had ever known, and dreadfully unhappy, tortured by his sexuality. There was nothing gay about his homosexuality. He even attempted to ‘cure’ himself by marrying an unsuspecting music student, a marriage that was, predictably, disastrous. He wrote to his father, “Only now, especially after the tale of my marriage, have I finally begun to understand that there is nothing more fruitless than not wanting to be that which I am by nature.”
This is a dramatic performance/documentary about the life of Tchaikovsky presented by the British conductor Charles Hazlewood, the first in a 2-part BBC series. Hazlewood travels to Moscow and St Petersburg in search of the composer whose musical standing has suffered due to his reputation as a hypersensitive neurotic. Often dismissed as a cheap sentimentalist, Tchaikovsky’s critics have sometimes failed to understand that in his romantic melodies there exists some of the most radical music of the 19th century.
Hazlewood conducts some of Russia’s finest young musicians in excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s best-known works, while Ed Stoppard plays the composer in scenes from his life based on letters and diaries, showing a man tormented by his sexuality.
Tchaikovsky was FIFTY-three when he died, not sixty-three. The loss would have been tragic whatever his age; his music grows dearer to me, and reveals more brilliance, the older I get and the more I study and perform it.
I highly recommend the recent movie Tchaikovsky’s Wife, by Kirill Serebrenikov, who often falls tremendously short of expectations, but who in this movie lived up to his fame. It’s an exploration of the life of Antonina Miliukova, and is a modern masterpiece, if you discount the ending. The acting performances are phenomenal, and all the photography and production design work that has been done to create the period sets and costumes and so on is absolutely stellar. Maybe his best movie ever
He died in St. Petersburg, NOT at Klin.
Klin is near Moscow.
Maybe my math is off, but 113 years ago from 2025 put his death in 1912. I can only wish he’d lived so long – a great composer by any measure. Curiously, so many of the best recordings of his music came out of London, not Moscow, Vienna, Berlin or New York.
“There was nothing gay about his homosexuality. ”
surely, it wasn’t easy to be gay in 19th century Russia, but Tsjaikovsky’s letters make it clear that he enjoyed the intimate contact with men.
“…..among many censored passages was a letter to Tchaikovsky’s brother, in which he wrote from Italy: “At nine o’clock I felt like going for a walk and went out. Some ruffiani [pimps], you know the kind, guessed what I was looking for, and wouldn’t leave me alone. The bait they were using to hook the prey (ie me) was a delightful young creature.
“I had to put up some fierce resistance because the bait was working. But I didn’t let it get the better of me. I don’t know whether they wanted to blackmail me, or just screw some money out of me, but I didn’t let myself get taken in.”
In another letter, he wrote of “a torment of indecision”: “My rendezvous had been arranged for this evening. A truly bitter-sweet dilemma! Finally I decided to go. I spent two absolutely wonderful hours in the most romantic circumstances; I was scared, I was thrilled, I was afraid of the slightest sound. Embraces, kisses, an out-of-the-way apartment… tender talk, what delight!”
Pjotr seems to have been fairly comfortable with his sexuallity- albeit in France or Italy…
He was 53, not 63. Not a great start…
And he did not die in Klin!
Something wrong with the maths: Tchaikovsky was (sadly) only 53 when he died 132 years ago today!
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Tchaikovsky died in St. Petersburg, not in Klin (which by the way is near Moscow – and not St. Petersburg). Reliable facts don’t seem to be your strong suit, Norman.
Would Tchaikovsky have been the genius that he was if he hadn’t lived such a tortured life?
Difficult to say, Herbie. The cliche of the tortured artist seems over-used, though–to be sure–Pyotr Ilyich did deal with his share of drama and misery during the course of his all too short life. But career-wise at least, Tchaikovsky enjoyed phenomenal success during his time. His compositions reputedly even earned him the lasting admiration of Tsar Alexander III. No small achievement if you know anything about that man’s stern disposition.
That a deep vein of yearning and sadness runs through so much of Tchaikovsky’s music does seem to offer a window into his inner life. Romantic happiness of any duration sadly never found him. And perhaps it’s that absence that comes through so clearly in the music. I do know that the intense emotionalism of Tchaikovsky’s melodies speaks to many, many listeners. Were I to list my favorite composers…I think he’d be near the top of my list.
Tchaikovsky was 53 when he died in St. Petersburg, Russia, not Klin!
I’ve no idea who Ruth Leon is, but she’s absolutely CRAP at research. Born in 1840 and when he died in 1893, he was 53.
1893 – 2025, is 132 years ago not 113.
Klin is also, I believe, near Moscow, not St Petersburg where he died.
Ruth, please go back to school or stop posting rubbish.
Couldn’t have put it better myself. Three elementary factual errors within the very opening sentence – beyond beggars belief.
He was the master of melody. How many more tunes would he have come out with!