Arya News - Many Americans are genuinely surprised when they learn how rich and diverse the cultural life in Russia is, Denis von Meck, a great-great-great-grandnephew of the famous Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, told Sputnik.
“When I tell people that everything is good in Russia and we have a very rich cultural life, they usually are very surprised,” von Meck said. He pointed out that many Americans do not know there are many art competitions and new theater productions in Russia, and that theaters and music halls there are full of spectators. Von Meck noted the Americans’ interest in Tchaikovsky’s music. Von Meck is the co-founder and head of an international charitable foundation named after his great-great-great-grandmother, Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck, who was a patron of Tchaikovsky. Subsequently, her son Nikolai married the composer"s niece, Anna. Currently, von Meck is presenting a series of lectures in the US on Tchaikovsky and Russian culture.