Letter 3346
Tchaikovsky Research
| Date | 10/22 September 1887 |
|---|---|
| Addressed to | Emiliya Pavlovskaya |
| Where written | Maydanovo |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Moscow (Russia): Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (Pavlovskaya collection) |
| Publication | Чайковский на Московской сцене (1940), p. 402 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XIV (1974), p. 211. |
Text and Translation
| Russian text (original) |
English translation By Luis Sundkvist |
Майданово 10 сент[ября 18]87 г[ода] Дорогая Эмилия Карловна!
Я придумал чудесные сокращения дуэта 3-го действия, а конец изменил согласно совету Направника! Целую Ваши ручки! На днях пришлю! Ваш П. Чайковский Насчёт Сергея Евграфовича ещё не успел ничего обдумать. |
Maydanovo 10 September 1887 Dear Emiliya Karlovna!
I have come up with some wonderful abridgements for the Act III duet, and I have modified the finale in accordance with Nápravník's advice! [1] I kiss your hands! I'll send it any day now! Yours P. Tchaikovsky With regard to Sergey Yevgrafovich, I haven't had time yet to think this over [2]. |
Notes and References
- ↑ On his return from Saint Petersburg, where on 7/19 September 1887 he had attended a preliminary rehearsal (without orchestra) of The Enchantress and consulted with the singers and Eduard Nápravník, Tchaikovsky immediately set about making changes and cuts to various sections of his opera. These concerned, in particular, the duet between Nastasya and the Prince's son in Act III, as well as Act IV which Nápravník felt was too long. By 19 September/1 October Tchaikovsky had completed all these modifications (including their orchestration), and that day he sent the vocal-piano reduction with all the corrections to Saint Petersburg — note based on information provided by Vasily Kiselev in Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 402.
- ↑ 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. At the premiere of The Enchantress he was to perform the role of the sorcerer Kudma. Nápravník had demanded that the duet between Kudma and the Princess be omitted altogether, but Tchaikovsky insisted on retaining it — note by Vasily Kiselev in Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 402.
