If any composer could be considered synonymous with ballet, it would be Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, whose music is the foundation of three of the most beloved ballets of all time — “The Sleeping Beauty,” ...

Tchaikovsky's father was a successful mining engineer while his mother was the artistic, sensitive one, French by birth, and a good linguist. Pyotr was the second of her six children. He had a good ...

On 20 October 1893, Tchaikovsky was healthy and in good spirits. He attended a play and had supper at a restaurant with relatives and friends, where he ate macaroni and drank white wine and mineral ...

Was Tchaikovsky a tempest or a drudge? The great Russian composer of iconic works like “The Nutcracker” and the “1812 Overture” is generally thought to have lived a life of melodrama. An alcoholic and ...

Tchaikovsky’s magical ballet tells the story of the doomed love of Prince Siegfried and Princess Odette. Prince Siegfried goes out hunting one night and chases a group of swans – one of them ...

There are two extremes to be found in Tchaikovsky biography. One is a conspiracy of secrecy, where letters and diaries are published with systematic cuts, and where almost complete denial surrounds ...

Michael Webster. Photo courtesy of the Shepherd School of Music website. The HAL 9000 that we use to produce these little gems has met an untimely demise. Fear not! We’ve got a brand new HAL 9001 on ...

Tchaikovsky was a fun-loving man with a Monty Python-style sense of humour, his biographer has said. Simon Morrison, a ...

Sean Rafferty presents a selection of music and guests from the arts world. Next On Air 17:30 Opera on 3 View full schedule Version 1: Natural death from cholera On 20 October 1893, Tchaikovsky was ...

Was Tchaikovsky's Symphony VI (aka "Pathetique", aka "Suicide Symphony") a suicide note or did he die of cholera as was the Official Word? You decide after this intweeging lesson with Rice ...