Tim Hu wrote:

>On track 13 of a Pro Arte 'Multiplay' CD is the "Cossack Dance" by
>Tchaikovsky, with Sergiu Comissiona conducting the Houston Symphony. I
>believe this is an excerpt from a larger work. Can anyone let me know
>what composition this is?

You are correct. It's a piece from his 1883 opera 'Mazeppa' (after
Pushkin).  Tchaikovsky wrote no fewer than ten operas, IIRC, but like he
did with so many others of his works, he considered 'Mazeppa' a failure,
so you don't get to hear it very often. The opera is still in existence,
though, because I saw a performance on TV once and remember that I quite
liked it.

Daniel Christlein