The music of the fin de siècle—not the music of churches or concert halls, but of cafés, cabarets, and the nightlife of a bygone era. Chansons, couplets, tangos, frivolous, provocative, and fashionable songs evoke the intoxicating atmosphere of the age. In this richly illustrated presentation, musicologist Ádám Bősze explores the era’s most celebrated composers and performers, introducing audiences to a rich yet largely undiscovered repertoire through music, rare images, and his trademark dry wit.

If there is one composer whose love life was marked by tragedy, it is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Despite being attracted to men, he married a young woman—a decision that ended in personal catastrophe. Moreover, the only woman he ever felt truly close to, apart from his mother and sisters, was one he never met in person. His contemporaries described him as highly strung, profoundly sensitive, yet tirelessly devoted to his work.
The composer of The Nutcracker, the Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, and the Pathétique Symphony endured a succession of emotional disappointments. These were shaped less by his own choices than by the social conventions of his time, which forced him to conceal his homosexuality throughout his life, even though many within his circle were aware of it.
Gustav Mahler later recalled him in these words:
“A man of genuine, understated beauty, with remarkably gentle features. We talked for hours, and I must say that I found myself speaking with a great, magnificent child.”
In his latest lecture, Ádám Bősze offers a fascinating portrait of Tchaikovsky’s private life, revealing the emotional world of this refined and deeply sensitive composer through a wealth of musical examples and visual material.