11.12.2022
For a long time the biography of this greatest composer, who made a significant contribution to world culture, was surrounded by myths and legends.
The gallant 19th century did not permit the mention of facts that compromised such an outstanding man even in the slightest degree. Then this tradition was picked up by the Soviet ideology, which added new features to the image of the composer, corresponding to the tasks of building a new society. The beginning of the XXI century brought the fashion for discussing the most personal and intimate, and turned the inner world of the Artist into a large passable square.
In his early youth, Pyotr Ilyich was in love with the Belgian singer Desiree Artaud; he was even going to propose to her. But she suddenly left and married someone else. Tchaikovsky suffered tremendously and dedicated the romance “To Forget So So Soon” to her. In Igor Talankin’s 1970 film Tchaikovsky, this episode is shown expressively. The brilliant Innokenty Smoktunovsky in the title role, and Maya Plisetskaya in her unusual role as Desiree.
We know from Tchaikovsky’s biography that in 1893 the composer was awarded an honorary degree by Cambridge University.
There are currently court hearings on the right of title. The ballet “Sleeping Beauty” has unwittingly become the subject of a heated dispute with the Walt Disney Company over the emblem. Also awaiting the verdict is the film company’s patent application for the name “Princess Aurora,” which is also the protagonist of Tchaikovsky’s work. Notably, Disney used Pyotr Ilyich’s music in creating the 1959 animated film of the same name.
Tchaikovsky was prone to depression for most of his life. From the age of 14, on the early passing of his mother, whose loss he mourned for a long time. He was also a hypochondriac. His greatest fear was going deaf like Beethoven.
“Inspiration is a guest who willingly does not visit the lazy.” This principle guided him throughout his life.
In 1877, the wealthy businesswoman Nadezhda von Meck supported the violinist Joseph Kotek, who was a former student and friend of Tchaikovsky and had been recommended to her by pianist Nikolai Rubinstein. She was impressed by the composer Tchaikovsky, and questioned Rubinstein in detail about him. It was Kotek, however, who persuaded her to write to him, after which she introduced herself as an “ardent admirer.” Thus their relationship solidified as an epistolary friendship: between 1877 and 1890, they exchanged more than 1,200 letters, and she was the one who supported him after his Fifth Symphony was torn apart by critics. She encouraged him to persevere in his compositions. They simply met in person one day, by chance, in August 1879.
