Tchaikovsky is regarded as Russia’s great symphonist. In his music he succeeded in creating a synthesis between the national musical language of Russia and the compositional forms and techniques of western European romanticism. His works are distinguished by rich melodic passages, parts of which are full of the deepest melancholy, interspersed with cheerful, dance-like, sections drawn from Russian folk music. His great operas Eugene Onegin and Pique Dame reveal a fascinating artistry that uses expressive, highly dramatic characters and scenes. Pique Dame was written quickly, in the spring of 1890 in Florence, and its first performance took place the same year at the Marinsky theatre in St. Petersburg. The production recorded here received the highest acclaim for its outstanding interpretation at the 1992 Glyndebourne Festival. The London Philharmonic under Andrew Davis accompanied a cast which included Sergei Leiferkus (Count Tomsky) and Dimitri Kharitonov (Prince Jeletzky).