Tchaikovsky: Ballets

Advantages: Very exciting and powerful piece of emotional hysteria
Disadvantages: If you're obsessed with classical form and beauty, then this might just be too much

...preceded this more famous overture. Tchaikovsky was a firm believer in fate (or "Fatum" as he referred it). His battle with Fatum (in a very Beethovenian sense) would be central to his entire life and this also reflected in his work. In 1868, Tchaikovsky encapsulated his beliefs in a concert overture entitled "Fatum." It was not received favourably and was not published until following the composer's death, which is understandable since the work is pretty insubstantial and mediocre. But it did serve as a foreshadowing of the composer's later Fate Symphonies. A TIME OF HARDSHIP 1877 was a year of profound unhappiness for Tchaikovsky. The premiere of his great ballet Swan Lake was a dismal failure, although the cold reception would soon turn into more favourable acceptance. His struggle with his homosexuality, something that was considered... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful, carefree winding melodies, memorable sequences, wonderful for the christmas season.
Disadvantages: Absolutely none.

...Introduction The Nutcracker Ballet remains the most popular of Tchaikovsky's later works, despite being released to low acclaim during the 1890's it grew into one of the most renowned and loved classical compositions to date. Indeed, even Disney created a feature film : Fantasia, which featured Mickey Mouse as a wizards apprentice, his actions backed by the various themes from the Nutcracker ballad. Throughout last century and through into this one, the Nutcracker has proven popular in concerts all over the world, the ballad soon gained a reputation as a festive ballad, in part due to the light and airy melodies heard throughout the entire piece that excellently compliment the festive tale. Thus, most concerts run from late November through until early January. Ticket prices vary, ranging from around a tenner to fifty... Read review

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Advantages: Great passion, beautiful melodies, unrestrained romanticism
Disadvantages: The finale doesn't quite convince in it's purpose

...HAPPINESS, OR TRAGEDY? After the doom-laden confessional that was the Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky was finally getting more in peace with himself. His fame began to spread and by 1885 he was already considered a national hero. This time saw the maturation of Tchaikovsky's style from the more blatantly folk-song oriented works and the more youthfully turbulent ideas to a more mainstream and calmer drift. Following the Fourth Symphony came the Violin Concerto, the Second Piano Concerto, the colourful overtures Capriccio Italien (composed during his bright stay at Italy) and 1812 (with the famous cannon-fire finale), the subtle String Serenade, the elegiac Piano Trio, a couple of small operas, and the large scale Manfred Symphony, amid some smaller scale works, all predominately genial in character. In 1888, after getting over his fear... Read review

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