Tchaikovsky: None but the Lonely Heart: The Strange Love of Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda von Meck

If the story of Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky’s relationship with his patroness Nadezhda von Meck had not existed it would have to be invented. In a relationship that lasted fourteen years and that was conducted entirely through letters, Tchaikovsky and von Meck were united through the invincible power of a love that could never be consummated. Plagued with doubts about the greatness of his music, tormented by the fear of discovery of his homosexuality, and trapped in a marriage to a woman who was eventually committed to an insane asylum, Tchaikovsky repeatedly tried to express in music the full spectrum of love. In doing so, he created some of the most beloved and inspired music of the nineteenth century.

For Tchaikovsky and von Meck, music became a vehicle for the expression of their private feelings and their unspoken emotions. The concert features Tchaikovsky’s intensely expressive chamber music and songs, interlaced with his correspondence with von Meck.

Tchaikovsky: None but the Lonely Heart: The Strange Love of Tchaikovsky and Nadezhda von Meck was part of our 2003-2004 and 2010-2011 Seasons.

More from our 2010-2011 Season:

– Beethoven: Love Elegies

– Proust's Court of Love

– Seduction, Smoke, and Music: The Love Story of Chopin and George Sand