Tchaikovsky's Women (Part 1)

This is the first of two films about the music of Tchaikovsky, written and directed by Christopher Nupen. It covers the period from the first tentative stirrings of Tchaikovsky's musical talent to the time of the composition of Eugene Onegin and the disastrous failure of his marriage to Antonina Milyukova. The title refers primarily to the women who so fired his musical imagination in the early years; from Katerina Kabanova in his first orchestral work, The Storm, to his dearly loved Tatyana in Onegin. There are, however, natural correspondences with the women in his private life; first and last his mother Alexandra, also his governess Fanny Durbach, the Belgian opera singer Desirée Artôt, Antonina Milyukova and Nadezhda von Meck.

Up to the time of his marriage the prime source of inspiration for much of his best music lay in Tchaikovsky's deep identification with the fate of his vulnerable young heroines. All through his life he was preoccupied with the idea of fate and in the early years it was the fate of these young women that touched him most; Katerina in The Storm, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Francesca in Francesca da Rimini and above all Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. His identification with Tatyana was so complete that it had a direct influence on his decision to marry Antonina Milyukova with such desparately unhappy consequences. The American dancer Cynthia Harvey who is a principal with the Royal Ballet plays Katerina, Juliet and Odette. The Welsh soprano Helen Field who is a principal singer with the Welsh National Opera sings Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. Cynthia Harvey is partnered by Mark Silver who is also a principal with the Royal Ballet. Choreography is by Graham Lustig. The music is performed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy who has appeared in so many Allegro films during the past 22 years. Mozart's Donna Anna, who touched Tchaikovsky so deeply at the age of ten, makes a brief appearance, sung by the Swedish soprano Clarry Bartha. The second film will be concerned with Tchaikovsky's preoccupation with his own fate in the composition of the later symphonies.