When Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died of cholera in 1893, he was without a doubt Russia's most celebrated composer. Drawing extensively on Tchaikovsky's uncensored letters and diaries, this richly documented biography explores the composer's life and works, as well as the larger and richly robust artistic culture of nineteenth-century Russian society, which would propel Tchaikovsky into international spotlight.
Setting aside cliches of Tchaikovsky as a tortured homosexual and naively confessional artist, Philip Ross Bullock paints a new and vivid portrait of the composer that weaves together...