25 Tchaikovsky Favorites - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

How many people recognise the Cadbury's fruit and nut theme tune? How many people would know what I meant if I said "1812 Overture"? How many people appreciate the music in Fantasia? How many people know that the above were written (the latter in part) by Tschaikowsky? In this day and age I would expect that the numbers responding to the first 3 questions would be many times greater than the last question. As a classical music fan I find it astonishing that people will recognise and enjoy the well known tunes of a composer yet not try to listen to more of their music. I believe that all music has its place in modern ...  Read the complete review

The three hours flight from Heathrow was not enough time for me to prepare for the strangeness of Moscow. Being scruitinized at customs by a soldier, waiting for the green light (literally) from his superiors to allow me entry, the push and shove once I was in the arrivals area as taxi drivers pounced on the "rich american". The greyness of it all, blank faced buildings, empty plazas, cyrillic lettering everywhere. My host suggested a trip to the Bolshoi (don't dress up). Its Onegin he said. We bought our tickets from a scalper, the printed billet had been overstamped twice (inflation) who promised us the best seats in the house, and they were. Richly ...  Read the complete review