The ‘Olympics of Classical Music’

NEW YORK — The public-television documentary about “The VIII International Tchaikovsky Competition,” held every four years in Moscow, offers American audiences a broad exposure to what has been called “the Olympics of classical music.”

The 90-minute program, filmed at the competition held last June, is scheduled for broadcast tonight on public television stations around the country, including KCET Channel 28 in Los Angeles, which co-produced the documentary with producer Robert Dalrymple.

“This (documentary) provides a good definition of what good television programming, especially public television programming, is all about--it’s got a great plot, suspense, insight, humor, music and a surprising outcome,” KCET President William H. Kobin said following a special screening here.

Kobin said he was approached with the idea for the documentary last year by Dalrymple, a New York-based producer who made a similar film about the competition four years ago for the Arts and Entertainment cable network.

Coincidentally, Kobin said, he spoke to Dalrymple “within one hour” of a scheduled meeting with the Los Angeles-based E. Nakamichi Foundation to discuss the possibility of the foundation becoming active as an underwriter of public television. The foundation eventually provided the entire $500,000 for the film, he said.