Piano Concerto No. 1 in B‑Flat Minor

In 1874, at the age of 34, Tchaikovsky embarked on his first work for piano and orchestra. He was not himself a virtuoso pianist, and the plan was that Nikolai Rubinstein, director of the Moscow Conservatory, would give the first performance. However, Rubinstein was highly critical of the new work, and the premiere was given instead by Hans von Bülow in Boston on 25 October 1875. Although it was a great success, as was the Moscow premiere soon after, played by 19-year-old Sergei Taneyev with Nikolai Rubinstein conducting (he had by now come round to its merits), Tchaikovsky accepted advice from the pianists Edward Dannreuther and Alexander Siloti and recast much of the solo writing in two bouts of revision in 1879 and 1888; the final version is the one usually performed. The imposing chords with which the piano famously enters, for example, were originally conceived as gentler arpeggios for added colour. The concerto quickly established itself as a resplendent virtuoso warhorse, its sweepingly magnificent opening presaging music of compelling imperative and drive. The three movements are each underpinned by folk song—Ukrainian in the outer movements, French in the central “Andantino”—bound by a shared melodic character. The central movement combines the functions of tender lullaby and elfin scherzo, and the hugely demanding finale builds to a thrilling conclusion. This remains one of Tchaikovsky’s most popular works, for its virtuosity, orchestral colour and inspired melodic generosity.