Great Composers - Tchaikovsky DVD 1997 from the BBC TV series / Directed by Simon Broughton / NVC Arts / Narrated by Kenneth Branagh / Music by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra / Conductor: Yuri Termirkanov

UPC 5051011545122

REGION 2-5 NTSC DVD

MADE IN EU

AUDIO: Linear PCM-Stereo

SUBTITLES:  English, German, Spanish, French, Italian

Total Runtime: 58 minutes

English Summary:

Tchaikovsky's Musical scores are lyrical, romantic and deeply emotional. This film endeavours to put the composer in context alongside Tolstoy as one of the most celebrated Russians of his time, examining his continuing significance in Russia today, and visiting locations which were important in Tchaikovsky's life. His life is scoured to reveal an abortive marriage, his true feelings about homosexuality and how this may have been expressed in his music.

Contributors include pianists Mikhail Rudy and Yevgeni Kissin, violinist Maxim Vengerov, conductor Valery Gergiev, ballerina Natalia Makarova, opera director Graham Vick and the Tchaikovsky-loving tram driver, Valentina. 

Narrated by
KENNETH BRANAGH

Music performed by the
ST PETERSBURG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Conducted by
YURI TEMIRKANOV

Contributors include

EVGENY KISSIN

MAXIM VENGEROV

NATALIA MAKAROVA

YURI TEMIRKANOV

GRAHAM VICK

VALERY GERGIEV

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (/tʃaɪˈkɒfski/ chy-KOF-skee; Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский, IPA: [pʲɵtr ɨˈlʲjitɕ tɕɪjˈkofskʲɪj]; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He was honored in 1884 by Tsar Alexander III and awarded a lifetime pension.

Although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant. There was scant opportunity for a musical career in Russia at the time and no system of public music education. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching that he received there set him apart from composers of the contemporary nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of The Five with whom his professional relationship was mixed.

GREAT COMPOSERS - THE SERIES
This landmark series presents the lives and works of seven musical giants from the Baroque era to the twentieth century. It examines the backgrounds, influences and relationships that make these seven composers part of the very fabric of the history of western music. Each composer's life and work is presented through extensive performance sequences, and through interviews and comment from some of today’s greatest artists and most respected authorities.