Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, 'Winter Daydreams', caused him sleepless nights and went through multiple revisions due to his own doubts and criticism from his teacher Rubinstein.
Performer Biography
Mikhail Pletnev founded the Russian National Orchestra (RNO) in 1990, making it independent of the government after the collapse of the Soviet system.
Composition History
Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March, Op. 31, was originally titled the Serbo-Russian March and was composed in a 'haze of patriotic fever' during the Serbian-Ottoman War.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Tchaikovsky defined the symphony as 'the most lyrical of musical forms', meant to express that for which there are no words.
Performer Biography
Mikhail Pletnev, the conductor, won the Gold Medal and First Prize at the 1978 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in Moscow at the age of 21.
Composer Biography
Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the composer, gave up a tenured position in the civil service to fully focus on music.
Performer Biography
The Russian National Orchestra (RNO) was the first Russian orchestra to win a Grammy Award, for their 2004 recording of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Beintus's Wolf Tracks.
