This group is a little dead, isn't it? I think we should resurrect it.
I've always found Tchaikovsky's ballet music very nice and pretty but also fairly annoying, probably due to being made to play 'the famous ones,' the Nutcracker and Swan Lake, every single Christmas without fail since the age of 8 or so. There is other music that would be just as appropriate for the time of year, from Corelli's "Christmas Concerto" to John Rutter's choral works, Berlioz's "l'Enfance du Christ" and Messiaen's "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus" for piano.
The London Philharmonic are currently collaborating with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in 'Revealing Tchaikovsky', a programme offering operatic, chamber and orchestral music by Tchaikovsky and his contemporaries.
So what is it about Tchaikovsky that makes him so irresistible, and returned to again and again? Though a Romantic composer, the origins of his style were Classical, probably the most accessible and 'easy listening' music for most people. But there are so many composers that this could be said of that it can't be the only reason.
What is it about Tchaikovsky?
