La Courtisane - Revision history

Tony: /* Notes and References */

2023-02-21T20:22:37Z

Notes and References

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:22, 21 February 2023
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	<ref name="note7">Again, this letter from Tchaikovsky to [[Détroyat]], sent from [[Tiflis]] in September 1890, has not survived, but its contents may be deduced from [[Détroyat]]'s reply to him on 22 September/4 October 1890, published in {{bib\|1970/6\|Чайковский и зарубежные музыканты}}, p. 123.</ref>		<ref name="note7">Again, this letter from Tchaikovsky to [[Détroyat]], sent from [[Tiflis]] in September 1890, has not survived, but its contents may be deduced from [[Détroyat]]'s reply to him on 22 September/4 October 1890, published in {{bib\|1970/6\|Чайковский и зарубежные музыканты}}, p. 123.</ref>
	<ref name="note8">[[Letter 4288a]] to [[Louis Gallet]], 6/18 January 1891.</ref>		<ref name="note8">[[Letter 4288a]] to [[Louis Gallet]], 6/18 January 1891.</ref>
	<ref name="note9">See {{bib\|1998/46\|Paris vant bien une messe! Bisher unbekannte Briefe, Notenautographie und andere Čajkovskij-Funde}} (1998), p. 255–256. However, in a recently-discovered letter ([[Letter 4739a]]) Tchaikovsky enquired of [[Gallet]] as late as 23 July/4 August 1892: "Would you be so extremely obliging as to resume the versification of ''La Courtisane'', of which I shall be impatiently awaiting Acts II and III!".</ref>		<ref name="note9">See {{bib\|1998/46\|Paris vant bien une messe! Bisher unbekannte Briefe, Notenautographie und andere Čajkovskij-Funde}} (1998), p. 255–256. However, in a recently discovered letter ([[Letter 4739a]]) Tchaikovsky enquired of [[Gallet]] as late as 23 July/4 August 1892: "Would you be so extremely obliging as to resume the versification of ''La Courtisane'', of which I shall be impatiently awaiting Acts II and III!".</ref>
	<ref name="note10">Modest Tchaikovsky, {{bib\|1997/96\|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 3}} (1997), p. 274, note 2.</ref>		<ref name="note10">Modest Tchaikovsky, {{bib\|1997/96\|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 3}} (1997), p. 274, note 2.</ref>
	</references>		</references>
	[[Category:Projected Works\|Courtisane]]		[[Category:Projected Works\|Courtisane]]
	[[Category:Operas\|Courtisane]]		[[Category:Operas\|Courtisane]]

Tony at 20:19, 21 February 2023

2023-02-21T20:19:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:19, 21 February 2023
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	Tchaikovsky received the libretto of Act I in July 1889. "It is truly remarkable"', Tchaikovsky replied on 17/29 July, "it has movement, it has poetry — and it is not too long or verbose... I have just finished a large work, and I do not wish to take up another before the autumn. Everything depends on the spirit in which I find myself, and the number of things I have to do... Without being too over-confident, I think that I could have the full score ready for you by the end of summer 1890" <ref name="note5"/>. Yet Tchaikovsky did not start work on the new opera, and in January 1890 he turned to [[Pushkin]]'s ''[[The Queen of Spades]]'' instead. It appears that this was largely because [[Détroyat]] and [[Gallet]] could not guarantee that ''La Courtisane'' would be performed in [[Paris]] <ref name="note6"/>.		Tchaikovsky received the libretto of Act I in July 1889. "It is truly remarkable"', Tchaikovsky replied on 17/29 July, "it has movement, it has poetry — and it is not too long or verbose... I have just finished a large work, and I do not wish to take up another before the autumn. Everything depends on the spirit in which I find myself, and the number of things I have to do... Without being too over-confident, I think that I could have the full score ready for you by the end of summer 1890" <ref name="note5"/>. Yet Tchaikovsky did not start work on the new opera, and in January 1890 he turned to [[Pushkin]]'s ''[[The Queen of Spades]]'' instead. It appears that this was largely because [[Détroyat]] and [[Gallet]] could not guarantee that ''La Courtisane'' would be performed in [[Paris]] <ref name="note6"/>.

	After completing ''[[The Queen of Spades]]'' Tchaikovsky was reluctant to undertake a new opera too soon, but [[Détroyat]] kept pressing him to honour his earlier promises and insisting that he had found a theatre in [[Paris]] which would stage ''La Courtisane''. The situation became so unpleasant for Tchaikovsky that he asked his friend [[Lucien Guitry]] to go and speak with [[Détroyat]] on his behalf when the actor was on holiday in [[Paris]] in the summer of 1890. It seems, though, that to avoid upsetting [[Détroyat]], Tchaikovsky assured him, in September, that he would compose the music for ''Sadia'' by the end of the following year <ref name="note7"/>.		After completing ''[[The Queen of Spades]],'' Tchaikovsky was reluctant to undertake a new opera too soon, but [[Détroyat]] kept pressing him to honour his earlier promises and insisting that he had found a theatre in [[Paris]] which would stage ''La Courtisane''. The situation became so unpleasant for Tchaikovsky that he asked his friend [[Lucien Guitry]] to go and speak with [[Détroyat]] on his behalf when the actor was on holiday in [[Paris]] in the summer of 1890. It seems, though, that to avoid upsetting [[Détroyat]], Tchaikovsky assured him, in September, that he would compose the music for ''Sadia'' by the end of the following year <ref name="note7"/>.

	{{picture\|file=Louis Gallet.jpg\|caption='''Louis Gallet''' (1835-1898)}}		{{picture\|file=Louis Gallet.jpg\|caption='''Louis Gallet''' (1835-1898)}}
	On 6/18 January 1891, Tchaikovsky wrote an apologetic letter to [[Louis Gallet]]: "I have not yet written a note of this score, and God knows when I will be able to make a start. I am tormented by the idea that perhaps I have abused your good offices and M. [[Détroyat]]'s patience. I have often written to him of my desire to retire my dear ''Sadia'', and give her to a French musician who would be no little blessed to have such an invaluable libretto, but Monsieur [[Détroyat]] replied that he would not hear a word of it" <ref name="note8"/>. He added that because of his agreement to write ''[[Iolanta]]'' and ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' for the Imperial Theatres in [[Saint Petersburg]], it would not be possible to do any work on the opera for the foreseeable future. Writing from [[Paris]] on 11/23 January 1891, [[Gallet]] undertook to explain this to [[Détroyat]] and also to urge him to find a theatre in [[Paris]] that would actually commission the score of ''Sadia'' from Tchaikovsky <ref name="note9"/>. [[Gallet]], however, also left the option open for Tchaikovsky to pull out of the project at any point, and it seems that this is what happened when the composer met up with both [[Gallet]] and [[Détroyat]] in [[Paris]] in March 1891 and they decided to abandon their joint project.		On 6/18 January 1891, Tchaikovsky wrote an apologetic letter to [[Louis Gallet]]: "I have not yet written a note of this score, and God knows when I will be able to make a start. I am tormented by the idea that perhaps I have abused your good offices and M. [[Détroyat]]'s patience. I have often written to him of my desire to retire my dear ''Sadia'', and give her to a French musician who would be no little blessed to have such an invaluable libretto, but Monsieur [[Détroyat]] replied that he would not hear a word of it" <ref name="note8"/>. He added that because of his agreement to write ''[[Iolanta]]'' and ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' for the Imperial Theatres in [[Saint Petersburg]], it would not be possible to do any work on the opera for the foreseeable future. Writing from [[Paris]] on 11/23 January 1891, [[Gallet]] undertook to explain this to [[Détroyat]] and also to urge him to find a theatre in [[Paris]] that would actually commission the score of ''Sadia'' from Tchaikovsky <ref name="note9"/>. [[Gallet]], however, also left the option open for Tchaikovsky to pull out of the project at any point, and it seems that this is what happened when the composer met up with both [[Gallet]] and [[Détroyat]] in [[Paris]] in March 1891 and they decided to abandon their joint project.

	No musical sketches by Tchaikovsky for ''Sadia'' are known to exist either, and indeed [[Modest]] in his biography of the composer pointed out that "this opera was never even begun" <ref name="note10"/>.		No musical sketches by Tchaikovsky for ''Sadia'' are known to exist either, and indeed [[Modest]] in his biography of the composer pointed out that "this opera was never even begun" <ref name="note10"/>.

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'''''La Courtisane''''', also known as '''''Sadia''''', was the subject of a projected French opera ([[TH]] 231 ; [[ČW]] 462), which Tchaikovsky considered between October 1888 and March 1891.

{{picture|file=Léonce Détroyat 2.jpg|left|caption='''Léonce Détroyat''' (1828-1898)}}
During the summer of 1888, the French librettists [[Léonce Détroyat]] and [[Louis Gallet]] wrote to Tchaikovsky, suggesting a number of subjects for operas which could be produced at the [[Paris]] Opéra Theatre. Amongst the subjects they proposed were ''La Géorgienne'' (after a story by an unidentified French author), Victor Hugo's ''Marion Delorme'', and ''Mephistophela'' (based on Heine's '' Der Doktor Faust''). None of these proved satisfactory, but in September of that year Tchaikovsky himself suggested to [[Détroyat]] a subject for their joint French-language opera: [[Goethe]]'s ballad ''Der Gott und die Bajadere'' <ref name="note1"/>.

This poem about the redemption of a ''bayadere'', that is a Hindu dancing-girl, through the steadfastness of her love for the god who assumes human form to test her, clearly appealed to Tchaikovsky, who had already given some thought to the subject because earlier that year [[Ippolit Shpazhinsky]] (his librettist for ''[[The Enchantress]]'') had drawn up for him a scenario for an opera ''[[The Bayadere]]'' on the basis of [[Goethe]]'s ballad. That project had been discarded in favour of the ballet ''[[The Sleeping Beauty]]'', a commission from the Imperial Theatres, but Tchaikovsky probably realised that the subject of ''Der Gott und die Bajadere'' would be ideal for the French stage, where oriental-themed operas had been all the rage for some time.

[[Détroyat]] was immediately captivated by the idea, and already by mid/late October 1888, he and [[Louis Gallet]], whose collaboration he had enlisted, were able to send Tchaikovsky a draft scenario. To avoid comparisons with [[Auber]]'s opera-ballet ''Le Dieu et la bayadère'' (1830), the ever-resourceful [[Détroyat]] had decided to turn the heroine, Sadia, into a singer. The opera's title was to be ''Sadia, ou La Courtisane''. On 28 October/9 November, Tchaikovsky replied that "I think it is flawless, and it will give me great pleasure to write the music, as soon as you have turned the contents of this delightful scenario into verse" <ref name="note2"/>.

Tchaikovsky's diaries show that he met with [[Détroyat]] in [[Paris]] on 22 March/3 April 1889 <ref name="note3"/>, and one week later he informed his nephew [[Vladimir Davydov]] that "It is decided that I will write the French opera ''La Courtisane''" <ref name="note4"/>.

Tchaikovsky received the libretto of Act I in July 1889. "It is truly remarkable"', Tchaikovsky replied on 17/29 July, "it has movement, it has poetry — and it is not too long or verbose... I have just finished a large work, and I do not wish to take up another before the autumn. Everything depends on the spirit in which I find myself, and the number of things I have to do... Without being too over-confident, I think that I could have the full score ready for you by the end of summer 1890" <ref name="note5"/>. Yet Tchaikovsky did not start work on the new opera, and in January 1890 he turned to [[Pushkin]]'s ''[[The Queen of Spades]]'' instead. It appears that this was largely because [[Détroyat]] and [[Gallet]] could not guarantee that ''La Courtisane'' would be performed in [[Paris]] <ref name="note6"/>.

After completing ''[[The Queen of Spades]]'' Tchaikovsky was reluctant to undertake a new opera too soon, but [[Détroyat]] kept pressing him to honour his earlier promises and insisting that he had found a theatre in [[Paris]] which would stage ''La Courtisane''. The situation became so unpleasant for Tchaikovsky that he asked his friend [[Lucien Guitry]] to go and speak with [[Détroyat]] on his behalf when the actor was on holiday in [[Paris]] in the summer of 1890. It seems, though, that to avoid upsetting [[Détroyat]], Tchaikovsky assured him, in September, that he would compose the music for ''Sadia'' by the end of the following year <ref name="note7"/>.

{{picture|file=Louis Gallet.jpg|caption='''Louis Gallet''' (1835-1898)}}
On 6/18 January 1891, Tchaikovsky wrote an apologetic letter to [[Louis Gallet]]: "I have not yet written a note of this score, and God knows when I will be able to make a start. I am tormented by the idea that perhaps I have abused your good offices and M. [[Détroyat]]'s patience. I have often written to him of my desire to retire my dear ''Sadia'', and give her to a French musician who would be no little blessed to have such an invaluable libretto, but Monsieur [[Détroyat]] replied that he would not hear a word of it" <ref name="note8"/>. He added that because of his agreement to write ''[[Iolanta]]'' and ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' for the Imperial Theatres in [[Saint Petersburg]], it would not be possible to do any work on the opera for the foreseeable future. Writing from [[Paris]] on 11/23 January 1891, [[Gallet]] undertook to explain this to [[Détroyat]] and also to urge him to find a theatre in [[Paris]] that would actually commission the score of ''Sadia'' from Tchaikovsky <ref name="note9"/>. [[Gallet]], however, also left the option open for Tchaikovsky to pull out of the project at any point, and it seems that this is what happened when the composer met up with both [[Gallet]] and [[Détroyat]] in [[Paris]] in March 1891 and they decided to abandon their joint project.

No musical sketches by Tchaikovsky for ''Sadia'' are known to exist either, and indeed [[Modest]] in his biography of the composer pointed out that "this opera was never even begun" <ref name="note10"/>.

==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">Tchaikovsky's letter to [[Détroyat]] with this suggestion has not come to light, but from [[Détroyat]]'s reply to him from [[Paris]] on 29 August/10 September 1888 it is clear that the original idea was Tchaikovsky's.</ref>
<ref name="note2">[[Letter 3712a]] to [[Léonce Détroyat]], 28 October/9 November 1888.</ref>
<ref name="note3">{{bib|1923/23|Дневники П. И. Чайковского}} (1923), p. 231.</ref>
<ref name="note4">[[Letter 3830]] to [[Vladimir Davydov]], 29 March/10 April 1889.</ref>
<ref name="note5">[[Letter 3905a]] to [[Léonce Détroyat]], 17/29 July 1889.</ref>
<ref name="note6">See [[letter 4166]] to [[Modest Tchaikovsky]], 4/16 July 1890.</ref>
<ref name="note7">Again, this letter from Tchaikovsky to [[Détroyat]], sent from [[Tiflis]] in September 1890, has not survived, but its contents may be deduced from [[Détroyat]]'s reply to him on 22 September/4 October 1890, published in {{bib|1970/6|Чайковский и зарубежные музыканты}}, p. 123.</ref>
<ref name="note8">[[Letter 4288a]] to [[Louis Gallet]], 6/18 January 1891.</ref>
<ref name="note9">See {{bib|1998/46|Paris vant bien une messe! Bisher unbekannte Briefe, Notenautographie und andere Čajkovskij-Funde}} (1998), p. 255–256. However, in a recently-discovered letter ([[Letter 4739a]]) Tchaikovsky enquired of [[Gallet]] as late as 23 July/4 August 1892: "Would you be so extremely obliging as to resume the versification of ''La Courtisane'', of which I shall be impatiently awaiting Acts II and III!".</ref>
<ref name="note10">Modest Tchaikovsky, {{bib|1997/96|Жизнь Петра Ильича Чайковского ; том 3}} (1997), p. 274, note 2.</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Projected Works|Courtisane]]
[[Category:Operas|Courtisane]]