Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was born May 7, 1840 in Votkinsk, Russia to a Ukrainian mining engineer and his second wife, a woman of French ancestry. He was the second eldest of six children, four brothers and a sister. Fanny Dürbach, a 22-year old French governess took care of him and his siblings. Tchaikovsky started to take piano lessons at the age of 5. He also could read and write in German and French by the age of 6. (Tchaikovsky: A Life, 2015)
Although his parents supported his musical interests, they sent him to a boarding school in St. Petersburg called the Imperial School of Jurisprudence at the age of 10, to become a civil servant. During his school years Tchaikovsky continued to enjoy music by going to performances of famous musicians …show more content…
The Nutcracker has a Christmas connotation, especially the song Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy and is always performed around the holiday season. The ballet was not well received by critics when first played, but was loved years later. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on December 18, 1892. Sleeping Beauty was first performed in 1890 and is based on Charles Perrault's La Belle au bois dormant. The choreographer was Marius Petipa. The premiere was at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on January 15, 1890. Swan Lake premiered in 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and like The Nutcracker it was a failure when first premiered. It was choreographed by Julius Reisinger.
Tchaikovsky wrote the score for Eugene Onegin, opera, Op. 24 based on a work by Pushkin that was written in 1877. The Opera 101 says:
“Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is a radiant example of Russian Lyric Opera. A deeply moving tale packed with big tunes, dances and a heart-stopping duel. As with his ballets, Tchaikovsky brings many symphonic elements to the music, plush orchestrations and highly melodic arias.”
When he finished the opera in January of 1878 he was concerned about what criticisms it would receive if played at one of the grand opera houses, so Tchaikovsky let the students of the Moscow Conservatory premiere it in March of 1878. A couple of years later, after Tchaikovsky adjusted some things in the opera, Eugene Onegin made its professional debut at the Bolshoi Theatre in January