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Donald Macleod explores Tchaikovsky’s life away from home. He spent significant parts of his peak years travelling or staying with friends, and a remarkable amount of his music was composed whilst staying with friends, on holiday or concert tours, or sometimes as a fugitive on the run. This evolved into a full decade of rootless wandering, which is peculiar given his frequent homesickness for Russia.

Today, we look at the course of the last five years of Tchaikovsky’s life: these were incredibly productive years which saw the creation of a series of astonishing works which remain beloved today, such as his Sixth Symphony, the Pathétique, the opera The Queen of Spades and the ballet, The Nutcracker.

Symphony No 5 in E Minor, Op 64:
IV. Finale: Andante maestoso-Allegro vivo
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Antoni Wit, conductor

The Queen of Spades (Pique Dame), Op 68: Act I Scene 1:
Ya imeni yeyo znayu i ne khochu uznat (Hermann, Tomskij, Tschekalinskij, Surin)
Mne strashno! (Lisa, Countess, Hermann, Jeletzkij, Tomskij)
Julia Varady, soprano (Lisa)
Elena Obratsova, mezzo-soprano (Gräfin)
Alexander Voroshilo, baritone (Graf Tomski)
Vladimir Atlantov, tenor (Hermann)
Bavarian State Orchestra
Algis Zhuraitis, conductor

String Sextet in D, Souvenir de Florence, Op 70:
III. Allegretto moderato
Vienna Chamber Orchestra
Philippe Entremont, conductor

The Nutcracker, Op 71: Act II Tableau 3:
Variation 2: Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy
Final waltz and apotheosis
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, conductor

Symphony No 6 in B Minor, Op 74, "Pathétique":
III. Allegro molto vivace
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Roger Norrington, conductor

Produced by Iain Chambers for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Audio Wales & West