Letter 2705
| Date | 7/19 May 1885 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Emiliya Pavlovskaya |
| Where written | Saint Petersburg |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Moscow (Russia): Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (Pavlovskaya collection) |
| Publication | Чайковский на Московской сцене (1940), p. 342–343 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XIII (1971), p. 82–83 |
Text and Translation
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist |
Петербург 7 мая 1885 Милая, дорогая Эмилия Карловна!
Судьба решительно препятствует, чтобы нынешней весной я увиделся с Вами. Вы поехали в Ревель как раз в те единственные дни, когда я мог быть в Петербурге. Начиная с 8 числа, я весь май должен пробыть безвыездно в Москве в качестве председателя экзаменационной Комиссии на всех Консерваторских экзаменах. Только 19 мая съезжу на один день в Смоленск, чтобы присутствовать на открытии памятника Глинке. Какие-то Ваши планы? Если не приведётся повидать Вас до лета, то желаю Вам письменно всяческого благополучия на предстоящие месяцы отдыха. Остановитесь ли Вы в Москве проездом? Быть может, там увижу Вас? Так как сам не мог побывать у Вас, то просил брата навестить Вас и сказать Вам, как мне было досадно, что мы опять не повидались с Вами. Крепко целую Ваши ручки. Будьте здоровы и счастливы. Всё, что Вы пишете о Чародейке, в высшей степени умно и веско и, конечно, будет принято к сведению. Горячо любящий Вас, П. Чайковский |
Petersburg 7 May 1885 Dear and cherished Emiliya Karlovna!
Fate is positively seeking to prevent me from seeing you this spring. You left for Reval, as it happens, during the only days that I was able to be in Petersburg [1]. Starting from the 8th I must reside continuously in Moscow for the rest of May, sitting in on all the Conservatory exams in my capacity as chairman of the Examinations Committee. Only on 19 May will I make a brief one day's visit to Smolensk, in order to attend the inauguration of a monument to Glinka. So what are your plans? If I don't get to see you until the summer, then I would like to wish you in writing every possible happiness for the coming holiday months. Will you be stopping over in Moscow? Perhaps I might be able to see you there? Since I was unable to visit you myself, I have asked my brother to call on you and tell you how disappointed I was that once again we were unable to meet. I kiss your hands warmly. May you be blessed with health and happiness. Everything that you write about The Enchantress is most intelligent and compelling, and I will of course take it into consideration. Your fervently affectionate, P. Tchaikovsky |
Notes and References
- ↑ At the end of her letter to Tchaikovsky of 25 April/7 May 1885 (in which she had written at length about her thoughts on the character of Nastasya in Ippolit Shpazhinsky's play The Enchantress and how the latter might be turned into a nobler figure in the opera), Pavlovskaya mentioned that she and her husband would be away in Tallinn from 1/13 to 8/20 May 1885. Tchaikovsky had not yet received Pavlovskaya's more recent letter (written no later than 7/19 May), in which she explained that she had not gone to Tallinn after all and invited Tchaikovsky to call on her in her Saint Petersburg flat. Both of Pavlovskaya's letters have been published in Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 335–340 and p. 341–342.
