Tchaikovsky Controversies Around the Russian National Treasure

Rijeka National Theater Ballet Ensemble Ivan pl Zajc premiered the ballet "Tchaikovsky", about which choreographer Cayetano Soto said: "Tchaikovsky", which I am creating for the Rijeka Ballet, will show a journey guided by facts and mysteries that shaped his unique artistic soul and mind.

They also shaped his extraordinary gift of melody, which is still irresistible and stimulating to the coming generations of artists " This year will also mark the 130th anniversary of the death of the great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, one of the greatest composers of Romanticism.

He was born in Votkinsk on May 7, 1840, and died on November 6, 1893 in Petrograd Tchaikovsky came from a distinguished Cossack family of the Chaika family, with mixed Ukrainian, Russian, French and Austrian ancestry.

He appeared in Russian imperial music at the same time as the composers of the New Russian School, the so-called group of Five, and their creativity complements each other He is a late romantic in terms of his musical expression, and he permeates his works with the Russian spirit in the melody and content of his operas.

He studied at the Petrograd Conservatory, and taught harmony at the Moscow Conservatory and wrote music reviews Material independence and stay abroad was made possible by Nadezhda von Meck, who supported him, and their correspondence is an important source of information about Tchaikovsky's creative work and aesthetic views.

He performed as a conductor of his own works throughout the Russian Empire, Europe and the USA Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was the second son of mining engineer Peter Fedorovich Tchaikovsky from Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine and his second wife Aleksandra Andreevna, granddaughter of a French immigrant named Michel d'Assier.

Although the musical orientation of the family was not very pronounced, Tchaikovsky was given piano lessons at the age of four at his request Since his parents planned for their son a career in government service, Tchaikovsky attended law school in St.

Petersburg from 1850 to 1859, when he graduated, and then worked in the Ministry of Justice After leaving the ministry in 1863, he studied music at the St.

Petersburg Conservatory, where his composition professor AG Rubinstein had the strongest influence on his formation Between 1866 and 1878 he was engaged in lectures and writing textbooks, criticism and intensive composing.

After a failed marriage in 1878, he went abroad, where until 1884 he traveled through Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland and Ukraine In 1877 year was the composer's most difficult internal crisis.

At the beginning of 1877, he first met Nadezhda von Meck, who was the widow of Karl von Meck, an emigrant in Russia who died in 1876 nadezhda von meck and Tchaikovsky formed a friendship through letters.

He received an annual pension of 6,000 rubles from her, which made him more independent His financial recovery began in 1884, and in 1887 Tchaikovsky discovered his talent as a conductor.

According to the online edition of the Croatian encyclopedia, when comparing the works of Petorica with the works of Petorica, an opinion was established about the insufficient representation of national musical expression in Tchaikovsky's compositional oeuvre, but today the accepted point of view is that Tchaikovsky also used Western European formal compositional and technical patterns and Russian folklore musical heritage This resulted in an authentic compositional expression of late romantic provenance, which is characterized by a rich palette of harmonic procedures, a brilliant orchestral color, refined form based on the classical tradition and, for Russian music, paradigmatic melodic shifts of a wide range.

All musical genres are represented in Tchaikovsky's compositional work Among the orchestral works, six symphonies stand out, and Tchaikovsky is the first great Russian master of the concerto.

Of his ten operas, two are performed today, both based on Pushkin's texts: "Evgeny Onegin" (1878) and "The Queen of Spades" (1890) Popular ballets also belong to the music scene, to which Tchaikovsky significantly contributed to the development of the genre: "Swan Lake" (1876), "Sleeping Beauty" (1889) and "The Nutcracker" (1892).

He also wrote for the piano, he also composed larger vocal works (cantatas, choirs) and stage and chamber music Tchaikovsky died suddenly on November 6, 1893 at the age of 53, and a few days before he conducted the "Pathetic Symphony".

The causes of death have not been clarified to date According to his brother Modest, Tchaikovsky contracted the cholera that was raging in Petrograd at the time.

In recent times, this national genius has found himself at the center of discussions because his homosexuality does not fit into the ideological scheme of today's Russia After his death, there was a rumor that Tchaikovsky committed suicide in fear of a scandal due to the exposure of his homosexuality.

Or was he punished for having a homosexual relationship with a member of the imperial family? Allegedly, by order of the emperor, he had to drink a glass of water contaminated with cholera In an interview with Deutsche Welle, Valerij Sokolov, one of the leading experts on Tchaikovsky, he said that he was surprised that these theories still exist today.

He believes that the theories about murder or suicide are completely nonsensical and that Tchaikovsky was simply in poor physical condition due to countless concerts and travels When asked how the cholera bacteria got into the composer's body, Sokolov says that in the summer of 1893, Tchaikovsky was visiting his brother Anatoly, the vice-governor in Nizhny Novgorod, who was actively involved in suppressing the cholera epidemic.

That's most likely how he got infected Sokolov also pointed out that genius should not be reduced to his sexual orientation, because the realization that he was different was a very painful process for the young Tchaikovsky.

When he saw in the seventies of the nineteenth century that many of his friends from their youth managed to hide their homosexuality by getting married, he decided on that option himself He married Antonina Miljukova, a young woman who wrote him love letters and perhaps resembled Tatiana from Pushkin's "Onegin".

In his mature years, Tchaikovsky lived his homosexuality very openly Scientists exclude the possibility that he was in trouble because of this, because the upper class of society in Russia at that time was tolerant towards homosexuals.

It seems more tolerant than today's Russia In the book "The Tchaikovsky Papers: Unlocking the Family Archive", which was published in the USA and Great Britain, Tchaikovsky's letters were published that were hidden from the public eye for years, and were secret because they show how the object of longing and passion of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was another man.

During the publication of the book, which The Guardian wrote about, it was emphasized that Tchaikovsky's homosexuality had long been accepted in the West, but in Russia it is still the subject of heated and often ugly public debates When the Russian edition was published in 2009, many Russians did not see it as the final argument, proof in the debate that had lasted for years about his sexuality.

Some readers even questioned the authenticity of certain letters kept in the archives The Russian edition, despite the wealth of new information, unfortunately did not erase long-standing prejudices about his sexuality in his native country.

It was unthinkable for the Russians to accept the fact that a distinguished composer, whom they considered their national treasure, was a homosexual On this occasion, we can also mention the film "Music Lovers" by the cult British director Ken Russell from 1970, the story of the life of the Russian musical genius PI Tchaikovsky.

In it, in his characteristic style, Russell juxtaposes the key points of the composer's life with the most sublime moments of his scores and creates a unique structure of violent rhythm in which dizzying camera movements, with frequent perspective distortions, alternate with calm sequences of the Russian landscape, and almost documentary reconstructions with eccentric authorial extensions Like many artists dedicated primarily to creation, Tchaikovsky (played by Richard Chamberlain in the film) lived a stormy and unsettled life in which, despite his latent homosexuality, the main role was played by women - his sister Saša (S.

Maydelle), wife Antonina Miljukova ( Mr Jackson) and the rich supporter Nadežda von Meck (I.

Telezynska) and almost documentary reconstructions with eccentric author's upgrades.

Like many artists dedicated primarily to creation, Tchaikovsky (played by Richard Chamberlain in the film) lived a stormy and unsettled life in which, despite his latent homosexuality, the main role was played by women - his sister Saša (S Maydelle), wife Antonina Miljukova ( Mr.

Jackson) and the rich supporter Nadežda von Meck (I Telezynska).

and almost documentary reconstructions with eccentric author's upgrades Like many artists dedicated primarily to creation, Tchaikovsky (played by Richard Chamberlain in the film) lived a stormy and unsettled life in which, despite his latent homosexuality, the main role was played by women - his sister Saša (S.

Maydelle), wife Antonina Miljukova ( Mr Jackson) and the rich supporter Nadežda von Meck (I.

Telezynska) .