Anna Brodsky
Wife of the Russian violinist Adolph Brodsky (b. 1853; d. 2 October 1929 at Bowdon, near Manchester), born Anna Lvovna Skadovskaya (Анна Львовна Скадовская); also known as Anna Skadovsky Brodsky.
The daughter of a Russian nobleman who owned estates in southern Russia, Anna married at Sevastopol in 1882, and accompanied her husband to the United States in 1891, eventually settling with him in Manchester, England.
Tchaikovsky was introduced to Anna Brodsky during his tour of Leipzig in 1888, and it was at their home that he met Edvard Grieg and Johannes Brahms on New Year's Day 1888 [N.S.]. Anna Brodsky would later write a fascinating account of life on the road with her husband, whom she accompanied on his many tours, as well as of this memorable meeting between the three composers. Her memoirs were published as Recollections of a Russian Home (Manchester and London, 1904) and are available online
Correspondence with Tchaikovsky
3 letters from Tchaikovsky to Anna Brodsky have survived, dating from 1888 to 1891, all of which have been translated into English on this website:
- Letter 3688 – 8/20 October 1888, from Frolovskoye
- Letter 3793 – 13/25 February 1889, from Berlin
- Letter 4488 – 30 September/12 October 1891, from Moscow
Letter 4488 was addressed jointly to Anna and her husband Adolph Brodsky.
5 letters from Anna Brodsky to the composer, dating from around 1888, are preserved in the Klin House-Museum Archive.
