Adela Bolska

Tchaikovsky Research
(Redirected from Adelina Skompskaya)
Adela (Adelaida) Bolska (1863?–1930)

Russian-Polish soprano (b. 4/16 November 1863 (or 1864?)[1]; d. 29 September 1930 in Tallinn), born Adela Skąpska, known in Russia as Adelaida Yulianovna Skompskaya (Адеаидна Юлиановна Скомпская); onstage she called herself Adelajda Bolska or 'Bolskaya (Больская), and after her marriage she became Countess Dienheim-Szczawińska-Brochocka.

After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory, Adela toured Italy and Paris, before returning to Russia to wide acclaim at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In 1893, she married the Polish Count Aleksander Dienheim-Szczawiński-Brochocki (1841–1907).

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

3 letters from Tchaikovsky to Adela Bolska have survived, dating from 1889 to 1893, all of which have been translated into English on this website.

2 letters from Adela Bolska to the composer have survived, dating from 1889 and 1892,and are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, Nos. 4030–4031).

External Links

Notes and References

  1. There is considerable uncertainty concerning her place of birth, or even her nationality, with some sources claiming she was from a Russian family born near Podolsk, and others that she was from a Polish family born in Besssarabia (in present-day Moldova), in either 1863 or 1864. An official record of her birth is yet to come to light.