Letter 2932
| Date | 17/29 April 1886 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Emiliya Pavlovskaya |
| Where written | Tiflis |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Moscow (Russia): Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (Pavlovskaya collection) |
| Publication | Чайковский на Московской сцене (1940), p. 359–360 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XIII (1971), p. 321–322 |
Text and Translation
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist |
1886 17-го апреля Тифлис Дорогая Эмилия Карловна!
Застанет ли Вас это письмо в Петербурге? Знаете ли, что я, ей-Богу, соскучился, не имея так давно никаких известий о Вас и не видав так давно характерного почерка Вашего. Здесь Вы оставили о себе такую прочную память, так часто приходится об Вас говорить, что беспрестанно об Вас вспоминаешь и думаешь. И вот я почувствовал непреодолимое влечение написать Вам словечко и напомнить о себе. Тифлис мне ужасно нравится: оригинален, живописен, интересен в высшей степени. Со стороны здешнего общества и музыкантов в особенности я встретил такое сочувствие, что не могу не быть особенно тронут и благодарен. Одно только нехорошо: очень много бываю в обществе, очень кучу, вследствие чего Чародейка совсем не подвигается. Опера начнёт свой весенний сезон 20 апреля Джокондой. Услышу здесь на будущей неделе Мазепу, которого тифлисская публика очень полюбила. Из певцов и певиц, с коими я здесь познакомился, симпатичнее всех для меня Зарудная-Иванова. Слышал несколько раз её у неё и у нас. Поёт она умно, изящно, просто, со вкусом. На сцене её ещё не видал, но, кажется, особенно горячего сценического темперамента в ней нет. Лодий здесь производит фурор; говорят, что в Мазепе он удивительно хорош. Как жаль, что такого чудесного артиста не берут в Петербург. Вот бы Княжич для Чародейки. Милая моя благодетельница! Целую Ваши ручки, поздравляю с прошедшими праздниками и посылаю тысячи пожеланий всякого благополучия. Всем кланяйтесь от меня, но особенно Сергею Евграфовичу, Эдуарду Францевичу и Ольге Эдуардовне. Ваш, П. Чайковский 26 числа еду через Батум и Константинополь в Неаполь, Рим, Париж. Напишите словечко в Рим Poste restante. |
1886, 17th April Tiflis Dear Emiliya Karlovna!
Will this letter find you in Petersburg? You know, I am truly missing you, as for such a long time I haven't had any news about you or seen your distinctive handwriting. Here you have left such lasting memories of yourself, and the occasion to talk about you presents itself so often [1], that I am constantly thinking about you. And thus I felt an irresistible urge to write a few words to you and remind you of myself. I like Tiflis very much: it is an original, picturesque, and highly interesting city. I have encountered such sympathy on the part of local society here, and of the musicians in particular, that I cannot but feel greatly touched and grateful. There is only one aspect which is not so good: I am frequenting society a lot and carousing a great deal, which means that The Enchantress is not advancing at all. The opera-house opens its spring season on 20 April with [Ponchielli's] La Gioconda. Here, next week, I shall get to hear Mazepa, which the Tiflis public has come to love very much. Of the singers, male and female, whose acquaintance I have made here, the one I find the nicest is Zarudnaya-Ivanova. I have heard her several times, both at her house and at ours [2]. Her manner of singing is intelligent, elegant yet unaffected, and shows taste. I haven't seen her on the stage yet, but I don't think she is endowed with a particularly passionate dramatic temperament. Lody [3] is causing a sensation here. I have been told that he was astonishingly good in Mazepa. What a pity that such a wonderful artist couldn't get an engagement in Petersburg. He would be splendid for the prince's son in The Enchantress. My dear benefactress [4]! I kiss your hands, send you belatedly my season's greetings [for Easter], and wish you fervently every sort of prosperity. Give my regards to everyone, but in particular to Sergey Yevgrafovich [5], Eduard Frantsevich, and Olga Eduardovna. Yours, P. Tchaikovsky On the 26th I am leaving to travel, via Batum and Constantinople, to Naples, Rome, and Paris. Do write me a few words, addressing your letter to Rome, Poste restante [6]. |
Notes and References
- ↑ During the 1880/81 season and the two following seasons Emiliya Pavlovskaya had sung in the opera-houses of Odessa, Kharkov, and Tiflis — note based on information provided by Vasily Kiselev in Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 311.
- ↑ In Tiflis Tchaikovsky was staying at the house of his brother Anatoly.
- ↑ Pyotr Andreyevich Lody (1855 or 1852–1920), Russian tenor and actor.
- ↑ From his earliest letters to Pavlovskaya Tchaikovsky had called her his "benefactress", thereby emphasizing how grateful he was to her for her enthusiastic attitude towards Mazepa (in which she created the role of Mariya at the opera's premiere), as well as towards Yevgeny Onegin, in which she sang Tatyana many times.
- ↑ Emiliya Pavlovskaya's husband, Sergey Yevgrafovich Pavlovsky (1846–1915), was also a singer (a baritone) and a member of the Saint Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre's troupe.
- ↑ This note was written on the top of the first page of the letter. Tchaikovsky left Tiflis on 29 April/11 May 1886, but he did not head for Italy as originally planned, due to a cholera epidemic which was then raging in Naples. Instead he sailed from Batum to Marseilles (with a brief stop in Constantinople), and from there made his way up to Paris — note based on information provided by Vasily Kiselev in Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 360.
