Aleksandra Krutikova

Aleksandra Krutikova (1851-1919)

Russian singer (mezzo-soprano) (b. 1851 in Pochep, near Bryansk; d. 1919 in Moscow), born Aleksandra Pavlovna Krutikova (Александра Павловна Крутикова).

Krutikova studied in Paris with François Wartel (1806-1882), then in Saint Petersburg, where she graduated from Henriette Nissen-Saloman's classes at the conservatory in 1872. She made her stage debut the following year at the Mariinsky Theatre, as Vanya in Glinka's A Life for the Tsar. After four years with the Imperial Theatre company in the Russian capital, she toured Russia and abroad, before joining the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1880, where she remained until 1901. Her husband was the baritone Bogomir Korsov, whom she often appeared with in opera productions.

She premiered many roles in Tchaikovsky's operas: Morozova in The Oprichnik, Olga in Yevgeny Onegin, Lyubov Kochubey in Mazepa, and the Countess in The Queen of Spades. Tchaikovsky rated her highly as an artist, and even intervened when she was fired from the Bolshoi Theatre in 1887, writing that "It is difficult to describe the extent to which this is a heavy loss for Moscow, and I am utterly bewildered as to how such a delightful, talented and intelligent artist as Krutikova could be replaced" .

Dedications

Tchaikovsky dedicated two of his songs to Aleksandra Krutikova:

• Reconciliation — No. 1 of the Six Romances, Op. 25 (1875)
• Only You Alone — No. 6 of the Six Romances, Op. 57 (1884).

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

No letters from Tchaikovsky to Aleskandra Krutikova are known, but one letter from Krutikova to the composer, dating from 19/31 January 1887, is preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a⁴, No. 2002).

External Links

• Wikipedia (Russian)