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Donald Macleod explores the period after Swan Lake when Tchaikovsky made a significant mistake.

Tchaikovsky is responsible for some of the world’s best loved and best known ballets. His music for Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker has become so popular and ubiquitous that we’re as likely to hear it in the concert hall, or accompanying a TV ad, as in the theatre. But this week, Donald Macleod is on a mission to take Tchaikovsky back to his dancing roots, in the company of two of British ballet’s brightest stars. Dame Monica Mason joined the Royal Ballet as the age of sixteen, becoming the youngest dancer in the company at that time. She went on to dance many principal roles, eventually becoming Director of the Royal Ballet in 2002, before her retirement in 2012. Sir Matthew Bourne has been hailed as the most popular and successful British choreographer and dancer, with a string of awards for his many productions, not least his ground-breaking production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Both guests bring their expertise to the series, sharing with Donald Macleod their views on Tchaikovsky, and their experience of performing and choreographing his works.

Within days of completing Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky suffered bouts of illness and depression. He then informed his brother, Modest, that he had decided to marry a former student of his, Antonina Miliukova. Tchaikovsky soon realised he’d made a disastrous mistake. The effects of the marriage on his well-being was so severe that his doctor advised him to never see his wife again. Tchaikovsky poured himself into his new opera, Eugene Onegin, and also composed his Serenade, opus 48, which would later be used by George Balanchine in his ballet of the same name.

Today, Matthew Bourne and Monica Mason talk to Donald Macleod about their backgrounds in the world of dance. Dame Monica reflects on her experiences working with choreographers, Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and discusses the importance of dancers bringing their own thoughts and interpretations to the collaborative process of choreography. Sir Matthew talks about how he devised his own version of the iconic Dance of the Cygnets from Swan Lake, and how he has been inspired by choreographers like George Balanchine, and his creation of the ballet Serenade.

Valse sentimentale in F minor, Op 51 No 6 (excerpt)
Olga Scheps, piano

Eugene Onegin, Op 24 (Act 2: Waltz)
Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Sir George Solti, conductor

Swan Lake, Op 20 (Act 2 excerpt)
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Mark Ermler, conductor

Serenade in C, Op 48
St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock