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Jorge Mester, conductor
Lee Luvisi, piano
Behind every great work there is a story, and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth is certainly no exception. Phillip Huscher, program annotator for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, notes:
Tchaikovsky was at work on his Fourth Symphony when he received a letter from Antonina Milyukova claiming to be a former student of his and declaring that she was madly in love with him. On June 1, 1877, Tchaikovsky stopped work on the first three movements of this symphony and visited Antonina Milyukova for the first time. A day or two later he proposed.
Tchaikovsky’s marriage lasted less than three months. On October 13, Tchaikovsky left for Switzerland, then on to Paris and Italy. He asked that the unfinished manuscript of the Fourth Symphony be sent from Moscow and he completed the scoring in January 1878. He finished Eugene Onegin the following month. That March he sketched the violin concerto in just eleven days. When he returned to Russia in late April, his problems with Antonina were still unresolved—she first accepted and then rejected the divorce papers, and later extracted her final revenge by moving into the apartment above his—but the worst year of his life was over.
The Fourth Symphony is, today, one of the most loved symphonies of all time. Jorge Mester and the Orchestra present it along side two fanciful works imbued with joy and sparkle. We are honored to welcome back Lee Luvisi to our stage, continuing a quarter-century collaboration with one of Kentucky’s most celebrated concert artists.
Weber Euryanthe: Overture
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
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