Yekaterina Laroche

Tchaikovsky Research
(Redirected from Katerina Ivanovna)
Yekaterina Laroche (d. 1904)

Third wife of Tchaikovsky's friend Herman Laroche, and also a close friend of the composer (d. 5/18 December 1904) [1]; born Yekaterina Ivanovna Sinelnikova (Екатерина Ивановна Синельникова); known after her marriage as Yekaterina Ivanovna Larosh (Екатерина Ивановна Ларош).

Tchaikovsky and Yekaterina Laroche

Yekaterina came from a family of important bankers and landowners in Yekaterinoslav province, and was acquainted with Tchaikovsky even before her marriage to his friend in 1889. They were very close during the last years of the composer's life, and often travelled abroad together.

Dedications

In 1893, Tchaikovsky dedicated his piano piece Dialogue — No. 8 of the Eighteen Pieces, Op. 72 — "à Mme. Catherine Laroche".

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

28 letters from Tchaikovsky to Yekaterina Laroche have survived, dating from 1881 to 1893, of which those highlighted in bold have been translated into English on this website:

30 letters from Yekaterina Laroche to the composer, dating from around 1887 to 1893 are preserved in the Tchaikovsky State Memorial Musical Museum-Reserve at Klin (a4, Nos. 2204, 2212–2238, 3102 and 4021) [2].

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Date of death ascertained by Luis Sundkvist. See Čajkovskijana aus alten Auktionskatalogen (2015), p. 123.
  2. Including one letter from 1890 written jointly by Yekaterina and her husband Herman.