07
November 2025

TCHAIKOVSKY, CHEKHOV AND LEVITAN

Greater London Area
Friday, November 7, 2025 - 10:30
Linnean Society,
Burlington House, Piccadilly London, W1J 0BF

Tchaikovsky was one of the first people to perceive Chekhov’s genius, and unusually took the step of becoming personally acquainted with the writer, despite his shy and retiring nature. The admiration was mutual, and the much younger Chekhov was proud to dedicate a story collection to the great composer. This Special Interest Day explores why Tchaikovsky and Chekhov should have felt such admiration for each other’s work, and examines their lives and careers in the context of late nineteenth-century Russian culture, paying particular attention to the landscape paintings of Levitan, whose name is often mentioned in the same breath. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Dr Rosamund Bartlett

Rosamund Bartlett a writer, lecturer and translator whose work as a cultural historian ranges across the arts. She completed her doctorate at Oxford and is the author of several books, including biographies of Chekhov and Tolstoy, and a study of Wagner's influence in Russia. She is currently writing a history of the Russian avant-garde. Her new translation of Anna Karenina for Oxford World’s Classics was published to acclaim in 2014. She has written on art, music and literature for publications such as The Daily Telegraph and Apollo, and received commissions from institutions including the Royal Opera House, Tate UK, and the Salzburg Festival. Her lecturing work has taken her from the V&A and the National Theatre in London to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, and she contributes regularly to Proms events and opera broadcasts on the BBC.