Confidentially Chaikovski
May 01, 2005
Berger Performing Arts Center
Tucson, Arizona

Piotr Ilich Chaikovski... Bob Sorenson
Nadejda von Meck... Stephanie Zimbalist
 

Nadejda von Meck was a wealthy widow of 45 when she first encountered Chaikovski's music.  Overwhelmed by the beauty of what she heard, she decided to use part of her large fortune to support the composer, who was 36 at the time.

Thus ensued a correspondence between the two which lasted for 14 years until 1890, when Frau von Meck suddenly stopped sending money, for reasons that remain obscure.  By mutual agreement the pair never met, though the occasionally made eye contact at converts or at the opera.  Their remarkable story is told in this most extraordinary correspondence in musical history between artist and patron.

A beautiful portrait featuring music of Chaikovski, Anton Rubinstein and Rachmaninoff.