Russian Music Festival - Tchaikovsky 180+1

The Festival of Russian Music is being organized for the fourth time. This time, the Liszt Academy hosts its opening concert in Budapest. Last year’s festival remembered Tchaikovsky, the master of Russian Romanticism, who was born 180 years ago, with a somewhat more modest programme. It is our aim to broaden the understanding of the work of this massive composer, which is why we are also dedicating this year to his oeuvre, focusing on different instruments at each concert. Tchaikovsky’s D major violin concerto is one of the most popular and complex concertos in music. 

Tchaikovsky's VI. symphony is one of his last works. The presentation was preceded by great anticipation, and the young Rachmaninov was also present at the performance. After his unexpected death after the premiere, a memorial concert was held, in which his partner, Rimsky-Korsakov, wrote about the sounding symphony:

“The enthusiasm and sympathy of the audience was now presumably triggered by the unexpected death of the author, which gave rise to various rumors, and even to the opinion that Tchaikovsky had anticipated his tragic death. For stories like this, people go crazy with reality. The audience was impressed that the gloomy last movement of the symphony could be associated with such prejudices. The great composition soon became famous and even fashionable.”