Classical Music

Saturday January 27. 10.10-11.10 BBC4

Tchaikovsky: The Creation Of Genius
Today sees the start of a season of programmes on Tchaikovsky that will stretch across several BBC channels and cover every aspect of the Russian composer’s life and work. Television gets to go first, then next month Radio 3 will clear the schedules for a week to play all of the composer’s works alongside those of his compatriot (and polar opposite) Stravinsky. Everything kicks off today when ballet dancer Deborah Bull (4pm, BBC2) introduces a performance of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ performed by the Royal Ballet Company. The piece has been a much-loved part of the company’s repertoire since it was introduced by its founder Ninette De Valois. Feature continues

The meat of the evening, however, will be this two-part drama doc on the life of the composer, with Ed Stoppard as Tchaikovsky and Alice Glover as Antonina Milyukova, who was besotted by the gay composer and eventually married him with disastrous consequences. Interspersed with this will be performances of his work by up-and-coming Russian musicians on location in St Petersburg, which will include the first piano concerto, the fourth and sixth symphonies and the violin concerto. If you are a classical music virgin, you might benefit from first watching the BBC4 series ‘Understanding Tchaikovsky’ (see below), which does an excellent job of illuminating the work.

Saturday January 27. 9.10-10.10 BBC2

Discovering Tchaikovsky
A companion piece to the BBC’s Tchaikovsky season, and vital if you aren’t well-versed in classical music. Conductor Charles Hazlewood deconstructs the fantasy overture from ‘Romeo And Juliet’ in unpretentious fashion, providing a wonderful insight into the mechanics of the music. The piece was written when the composer was recovering from an amour fou and that sense of conflict informs the music, which contains, Hazlewood contends, Tchaikovsky’s greatest love theme. The music will be familiar enough, but this elucidation will make you listen to it with fresh ears. Once it has been played to you in gobbets and explained, you’ll want to hear it in one fell swoop and Hazlewood has anticipated that need. So finally he tucks his shirt in, picks up the baton and conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a performance.