Shaffer to Follow Mozart with Tchaikovsky???
Date: 12 September 2001
A new play from award-winning dramatist Peter Shaffer looks set to portray the sexual relationship between Pyotr Tchaikovsky and his younger brother, Modest. It wouldn't be the first time Shaffer has tackled the great composers, with the screen version of his play
Amadeus scooping eight Academy Awards. A portrait of Mozart's decadent and ruinous life, it ran on Broadway for over 1,000 performances and took the Tony Award for Best Play. Shaffer's other major works include
Equus and
The Royal Hunt of the Sun. After Tchaikovsky's mother died of cholera in 1854, the composer became very close to Modest who also wrote two librettos and the first major biography of his famous elder brother. Among Tchaikovsky's greatest works are his ballet scores for
Swan Lake and
Romeo and Juliet.
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