Pyotr Tchaikovsky: The Composer’s Circle of Virtual and Real Communication

Shao Mengqi

Abstract


The article sets out to reveal the specifics of cultural dialogues between the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the poet Lord George Gordon Byron, as well as with the writer Leo Tolstoy and the philosopher Vladimir Solovyov. Regardless of whether the creative communication between these figures was real or “virtual,” the author focuses on aspects that contribute to: (1) the accumulation of new knowledge regarding the composer’s worldview; (2) understanding the essence of the profound foundations of one of Tchaikovsky’s most beloved works — the opera The Enchantress; (3) generating interest among Chinese audiences in The Enchantress, given that at the core of this work lies the phenomenon of transformation, representing an integral concept in Chinese philosophy, along with the theme of patriotism (the latter revealed through the image of the opera’s heroine, Nastasya “Kuma,” embodying the archetype of the native land). At the same time, the study of the dialogical interaction of geniuses of world culture allows us to identify “strange convergences” between them, which occur at the crossroads of ways, eras and countries.

Keywords: Pyotr Tchaikovsky, George Gordon Byron, Vladimir Solovyov, Leo Tolstoy, opera The Enchantress, novel Resurrection, dialogue


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.56620/RM.2026.1.075-087

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