Description:

Tchaikovsky, who showed musical talent from an early age, composed as well as played the piano, but his parents had no intention of making him a musician, and his first extant piano piece is only "Waltz" from 1854. It was not until 1862, when he entered the Petersburg Conservatory after working for the Ministry of Justice, that he began composing in earnest, and many works were created thereafter. The unfinished but charming "Allegro in F minor," written during this period, was completed by Kalinenko more than 100 years later. The "Theme and Variations," also from the same period, is a brilliant work in which the character of each variation stands out. In addition to "Potpourri," which freely incorporates melodies from his own opera "The Provincial Secretary," several of the marches are delightful, including a piano arrangement of the 1883 coronation march for Alexander III (the original was orchestral). Tchaikovsky himself called the march "a noisy piece," but the work was actually performed without problems.