Composer of the Week
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), The Manfred Problem
Donald Macleod ends his week exploring Tchaikovsky's 'lost decade' with the black sheep of his orchestral oeuvre - a symphony that's not really a symphony; a work that the great conductor Leonard Bernstein called 'junk' and refused to perform; and yet one that contains some of the most beautiful and lyrical moments in his entire output. At first, the composer adored his programmatic "Manfred Symphony" of 1885. Inspired by Lord Byron's poem, the process of writing the piece took him several anguished months - and yet, just a few months after he'd basked in satisfaction at its premiere, Tchaikovsky was to reject it forever. "Abominable", he said. "I loathe it deeply". Since then, the work's been a pariah - included almost apologetically on box sets of complete Tchaikovsky symphonies. Time for a re-evaluation; Donald Macleod presents a rare complete performance by the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev.