Editing Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (section)

===Return to Russia===
[[File:Pjotr Tšaikovskin kotimuseo.jpg|thumb|alt=A blue two-story house with white trim and many windows, surrounded by birch trees.|Tchaikovsky's last home, in [[Klin, Klinsky District, Moscow Oblast|Klin]], now the [[Tchaikovsky State House-Museum]]]]

In 1884, Tchaikovsky began to shed his unsociability and restlessness. That March, Emperor [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] conferred upon him the [[Order of Saint Vladimir]] (fourth class), which included a title of [[Russian nobility|hereditary nobility]]<ref name="browngrove18621"/> and a personal audience with the Tsar.<ref name="wiley162"/> This was seen as a seal of official approval which advanced Tchaikovsky's social standing<ref name="browngrove18621">Brown, ''New Grove'' vol. 18, p. 621; Holden, 233.</ref> and might have been cemented in the composer's mind by the success of his [[Orchestral Suite No. 3]] at its January 1885 premiere in Saint Petersburg.<ref name="brmm275">Brown, ''Man and Music'', 275.</ref>

In 1885, Alexander III requested a new production of ''[[Eugene Onegin (opera)|Eugene Onegin]]'' at the [[Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre]] in Saint Petersburg.{{refn|Its only other production had been by students from the Conservatory.|group=n}} By having the opera staged there and not at the [[Mariinsky Theatre]], he served notice that Tchaikovsky's music was replacing [[Italian opera]] as the official imperial art. In addition, at the instigation of [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]], Director of the Imperial Theaters and a patron of the composer, Tchaikovsky was awarded a lifetime annual pension of 3,000 rubles from the Tsar. This made him the premier court composer, in practice if not in the actual title.<ref>Maes, 140; Taruskin, ''Grove Opera'', 4:664.</ref>

Despite Tchaikovsky's disdain for public life, he now participated in it as part of his increasing celebrity and out of a duty he felt to promote Russian music. He helped support his former pupil [[Sergei Taneyev]], who was now director of Moscow Conservatory, by attending student examinations and negotiating the sometimes sensitive relations among various members of the staff. He served as director of the Moscow branch of the [[Russian Musical Society]] during the 1889–1890 season. In this post, he invited many international celebrities to conduct, including [[Johannes Brahms]], [[Antonín Dvořák]] and [[Jules Massenet]].<ref name="wiley162">Wiley, ''New Grove'' (2001), 25:162.</ref>

During this period, Tchaikovsky also began promoting Russian music as a conductor,<ref name="wiley162"/> In January 1887, he substituted, on short notice, at the [[Bolshoi Theater]] in Moscow for performances of his opera ''[[Cherevichki]]''.<ref>Holden, 261; Warrack, ''Tchaikovsky'', 197.</ref> Within a year, he was in considerable demand throughout Europe and Russia. These appearances helped him overcome life-long [[glossophobia|stage fright]] and boosted his self-assurance.<ref>Holden, 266; Warrack, ''Tchaikovsky'', 232.</ref> In 1888, Tchaikovsky led the premiere of his [[Symphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky)|Fifth Symphony]] in Saint Petersburg, repeating the work a week later with the first performance of his tone poem ''[[Hamlet (Tchaikovsky)|Hamlet]]''. Although critics proved hostile, with [[César Cui]] calling the symphony "routine" and "meretricious", both works were received with extreme enthusiasm by audiences and Tchaikovsky, undeterred, continued to conduct the symphony in Russia and Europe.<ref>Holden, 272–273.</ref> Conducting brought him to the United States in 1891, where he led the [[New York Symphony Orchestra|New York Music Society's]] orchestra in his ''Festival Coronation March'' at the inaugural concert of [[Carnegie Hall]].<ref>Brown, ''The Final Years'', 319–320.</ref>