Tchaikovsky: : A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Highly successful bio
Review: A bold look at a difficult man. Tchaikovsky, terrified that his sexuality would become a topic of scandal, split his powerful sexual response between (a) male members of his family on whom he showered very intense affection and (b) young men, sometimes young boys, who were often rough-trade prostitutes. Anthony Holden offers a succinct, persuasive, well-written portrait. Although short on analysis of Tchaikovsky's music (the man was a genius at representing emotion), Holden is especially good at examining the composer's emotional relationships and the causes of his death: did he die of cholera or arsenic? by infection or suicide? If you like biographies of musicians, you'll love this one.

Rating:
Summary: Highly successful bio
Review: A bold look at a difficult man. Tchaikovsky, terrified that his sexuality would become a topic of scandal, split his powerful sexual response between (a) male members of his family on whom he showered very intense affection and (b) young men, sometimes young boys, who were often rough-trade prostitutes. Anthony Holden offers a succinct, persuasive, well-written portrait. Although short on analysis of Tchaikovsky's music (the man was a genius at representing emotion), Holden is especially good at examining the composer's emotional relationships and the causes of his death: did he die of cholera or arsenic? by infection or suicide? If you like biographies of musicians, you'll love this one.

Rating:
Summary: Biography That Reads Like a Thriller
Review: Many kudos to Mr. Holden for this spectacular effort! This is what biography is to be! A careful reconstruction of a life, with logical extrapolation of missing points and a compelling analysis of historical inconsistencies in this unique figure. I especially appreciated the author's relative absence from the narrative (i.e., he was not telling us constantly how he felt about the facts of the biography). Gratefully, he did not editorialize about the biographies central issue: Tchaikovsky's homosexuality. The issue too often derails serious historical research, either to condemn or to convert to the cause. A sheer delight of a read.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating study of a sex-crazed genius
Review: Select virtually any adjective that comes to mind and it most likely will be applicable to this "too bizarre to be true" picture of a male homosexual nymphomaniac (my term). One of the supreme musical geniuses of Western music tormented by "irresistible" urges to copulate with 14-year old boys taken off the streets of Florence, Rome, etc., etc. His highly emotional music surely mirrors his inner torment.

Rating:
Summary: Biography That Reads Like a Thriller
Review: Select virtually any adjective that comes to mind and it most likely will be applicable to this "too bizarre to be true" picture of a male homosexual nymphomaniac (my term). One of the supreme musical geniuses of Western music tormented by "irresistible" urges to copulate with 14-year old boys taken off the streets of Florence, Rome, etc., etc. His highly emotional music surely mirrors his inner torment.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating study of a sex-crazed genius
Review: Select virtually any adjective that comes to mind and it most likely will be applicable to this "too bizarre to be true" picture of a male homosexual nymphomaniac (my term). One of the supreme musical geniuses of Western music tormented by "irresistible" urges to copulate with 14-year old boys taken off the streets of Florence, Rome, etc., etc. His highly emotional music surely mirrors his inner torment.