‘Queen of Spades’ shows her hand

  Russia’s anti-gay stance has posed a dilemna surrounding attitudes towards at least one of its iconic figures. The Russian government is to fund a biopic about Peter Tchaikovsky which will ignore his sexuality.  The Russian Minister for Culture has denied what has long been considered fact hat Tchaikovsky was gay. Click here to read the feature, and a humourous look at revisionism…

Two recent cinema releases focus on the dynamics amongst classical musicians. Click here to read the New York Times feature on Quartet, directed by Dustin Hoffmann and starring Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins; and A Late Quartet, directed by Yaron Silberman, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Mark Ivanir and Catherine Keener.