The second, and longest, of Tchaikovsky’s three ballets, Sleeping Beauty was first performed in St Petersburg in 1889. Again, the theme of good versus evil is to the fore, in the form of the character

‘I accepted the commission partly for the money, and partly because I have long wanted to try my hand at this sort of music,’ wrote Tchaikovsky to Rimsky-Korsakov. For the sum of 800 roubles (around £

CIAO TO LA SCALA OF FOOTBALL ST ...

The Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2

(conductor) USSR RTV Symphony Orchestra Melodiya RCID24689058 Numerous recordings by the good and the great ensure that the bar is set extremely high here, and among the many persuasive readings are t

Glasgow, 1942. The Carl Rosa Opera Company was in town to perform Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Tickets had been snapped up by local people – including many who didn’t really know what an opera was. The