André Tchaikowsky - a revival

André Tchaikowsky (1935 - 1982) has enjoyed something of a mini revival in the past few months with the posthumous premiere of his opera The Merchant of Venice at the Bregenzer Festspiele in July, followed by a focus day on the man and his music at the Leeds College of Music, which was led by the author of Tchaikowsky’s biography, Anastasia Belina-Johnson, on Friday 1st November.

Toccata Press has recorded the first in a series of CDs of the music of Tchaikowsky, which includes the Piano Concerto, Op. 4 (Maciej Grzybowsky and the Wiener Symphoniker under the direction of Paul Daniel - recorded at the Bregenzer Festpiele in July), the Inventions Op. 2 (played by Jakob Fichert) and the Sonata for Piano (1958) played by Nico de Villiers. This disc is due to be released in December.

Also due for release is the English language version of Belina-Johnson’s biography of Tchaikowsky. The German language edition of this was launched at the Bregenzer Festspiele Tchaikowsky Symposium. This book will be released with a CD; a private recording of an informal recital at the University of Western Australia, which gives the reader/listener an interesting insight into the Tchaikowsky the musician.

Further details about the biography and CD can be found on the Toccata Press website:

A Musician Divided - Toccata Press

Josef Weinberger is currently preparing print editions of works that have been previously unpublished, including the Piano Sonata (1958), the Seven Skakespeare Sonnets (mezzo soprano and piano), the Tango and Mazurka (solo piano) and the Arioso and Fuga (solo clarinet), which at its premiere in Bregenz was dubbed “the Syrinx for the clarinet”.