Taras Bulba
Tchaikovsky Research
In October 1878, Ieronim Alferyev [1] sent Tchaikovsky a libretto of the first act of a projected opera (ČW 457) [2] on the subject of Nikolay Gogol's historical epic Taras Bulba (Тарас Бульба). It is apparent from the accompanying letter that it was Tchaikovsky himself who had proposed the subject of the opera, and had asked Alferyev to be his librettist. The composer's reply has not survived, but ultimately the idea came to nothing [3].
