The Tchaikovsky Experience  on the BBC launches on 20 January with a two-part drama documentary on the composer's life and music,presented by Charles Hazlewood and starring Ed Stoppard as Tchaikovsky (BBC TWO).

The films are shot on location in Russia: Hazlewood conducts artists from St Petersburg’s celebrated Mariinsky Theatre in some of Tchaikovsky’s best known works.

The celebrations continue with Discovering Tchaikovsky  - televised music workshop programmes, made in association with The Open University. BBC TV will feature performances of some of the great Tchaikovsky ballets and operas, and the event reaches its climax on BBC Radio 3 in February as the station continues its distinctive series of composer-focussed seasons - Tchaikovsky will share the airwaves with Igor Stravinsky in a joint celebration: listeners will be able to hear all of their works in an exclusive week of broadcasts. 

This is brought to a spectacular close on 16 February with a live broadcast of the 1812 Overture performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra at London’s Imperial War Museum.
 
For full details and transmission times