If you are studying Tchaikovsky this term for your composer study (or if you simply love his music), you may be interested to know that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is holding a 3-week Tchaikovsky Festival beginning today and you don’t have to be a Michigander to attend!
The DSO offers wonderful free HD live-streaming for select concerts during the concert season, but they are webcasting every concert of the festival. If you’ve never seen their webcasts before, you are in for a treat! Not only is the DSO one of the best orchestras in the world, but they broadcast their concerts with wonderful close-ups of the conductor and individual players that give you a “better-than-front-row” view of everything going on! They also interview the soloists and/or the conductor during the intermission breaks. Because the DSO is “our” orchestra, we have watched many of these webcasts and enjoyed them very much. You watch the live broadcasts here: http://www.dso.org/live
Over the next three weeks, they are planning to perform all 6 of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, his 3 piano concertos and many other works including the 1812 Overture, Romeo and Juliet and March Slave. They also offer pre-concert discussions where they will be discussing all sorts of topics relating to Tchaikovsky’s music, the culture in which he lived and the historical context for some of his works.
You can see the full schedule at: http://www.dso.org/TchaikFest
I hope that some of you will take advantage of this supplement to your composer study!
~Anna
P.S. If you are scrolling through the DSO website with your children, please note that at the very bottom of the site are various video clips about Tchaikovsky’s music and the very last one is entitled “Tchaikovsky’s Sexuality”, where they discuss his rumored “lifestyle”.
