Irina Churilova and Roman Burdenko about “The Maid of Orleans“ by Tchaikovsky

The Maid of Orleans has always stood in the shadow of Tchaikovsky’s other operas, and being presented with it has resulted in confusion, even among the composer’s most ardent admirers. The authoritative Soviet music historian Boris Asafiev, for example, considered the work “masterful, though uneven“, reprimanding its “false style“ and “peculiar, pompous élan“. The low evaluation of The Maid of Orleans can, to a great extent, be explained by its chronological proximity to (and inevitable comparison with) Tchaikovsky’s most popular opera, Eugene Onegin. Following the lyrical “chamber scenes“, here the composer unexpectedly turned to the genre of grand opéra with all its inherent attributes: a plot from an age of knights, a massive four-act structure, a ballet divertissement, the thunder of victory and fiery whirlwinds. Tchaikovsky was convinced of public acclamation, box-office success and of his “grand opéra“ finding a stable place in the repertoire, though this was never fully achieved, either during the comp