This is the biggest reason he wasn't allowed "membership" with Russia's Mighty Five that was made up of Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Cui, and Balakirev. They would claim that Tchaikovsky's works weren't Russian enough. That he was too heavily influenced by Western European composers. The joke is on them. Tchaikovsky is pretty much a household name and most people know his works even if they don't know the title or his name.
Here's his violin concerto that he composed for his student/lover
You may not know who Rimsky-Koraskov was, but you have almost certainly heard Flight of the Bumblebee and probably would recognize at least the opening of Scheherazade if you heard it and he composed both.
Cannot confirm or deny this, but I once heard that he went to someone's house at night some time after hearing they like honey just to give them honey. Don't remember who, but I think it was someone he liked in a romantic way.