Letter 2630
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Russian text (original)
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English translation
Copyright © 2010 by Luis Sundkvist
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| 29 дек[абря] |
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29 December |
| Я живу на Мясницкой, д.
Мекк. |
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I am staying at Miasnitskaia [Street],
[Nikolai von] Meck's
house [1]. |
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Я до сих пор поглощён одной убийственно трудной и страшно спешной работой, что даже Вам, дорогая
благодетельница, могу только написать несколько строчек в ответ на Ваше милейшее извещение об
Онегине и
Мазепе. В тот день, когда пришло Ваше письмо, я был измучен работой и очень огорчён известием о смерти близкого друга; Вы точно угадали всё это и придали мне известием об Вашем и моём успехе бодрости и твёрдости. Скоро увижу Вас; около 10-го янв[аря] буду в
Петербурге. Целую крепко Вашу ручку. Сергея Евграфовича за милые, дружеские строки благодарю от души.
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I am still engrossed in an atrociously difficult and terribly urgent
job [2], and so even to you, my dear
benefactress, I can only write a few lines in reply to your ever so
nice report on Onegin and
Mazepa
[3]. On the day that your letter arrived I was tormented by work and very upset by the news of the death of a close
friend [4]. It is
precisely as though you had guessed all this and, by notifying me of your success, as well as mine, you infused courage and fortitude into me. I will be seeing you soon, because around the 10th of
January I shall be in Petersburg. I kiss your hand warmly. I thank Sergei Evgrafovich[5] from my heart for his nice and friendly words.
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| Глубоко благодарный |
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A profoundly grateful |
| П. Чайковский |
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P. Tchaikovsky |
Notes:
- During his stay in Moscow from 17/29 December 1884 to early/mid January 1885 Tchaikovsky was staying at the house of his niece
Anna and her husband Nikolai von Meck
[back]
- Tchaikovsky was feverishly trying to complete the proof-reading of his
Suite No. 3, which was due to be premiered in
Saint Petersburg on 12/14 January 1885, under the
direction of Hans von Bülow
[back]
- In a letter dated 21 December 1884/2 January 1885
Emiliia Pavlovskaia had
informed Tchaikovsky that Mazepa that evening had been performed to an almost full house at the
Saint Petersburg Bol'shoi
(Kamennyi) Theatre, and that the same theatre had been packed to the rafters at the performance of
Evgenii Onegin on the previous evening.
Pavlovskaia had sung the leading roles of Mariia and Tat'iana respectively, and the success of both these performances had been sensational, especially bearing in mind that they had taken place just before the Christmas holidays, when the theatres were normally empty.
Pavlovskaia's letter (including a few lines at the end written by her husband) has been published in:
Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 318
[back]
- The violinist Iosif Kotek died of tuberculosis at
Davos on 23 December 1884/4 January 1885. On the following day Tchaikovsky was informed by telegram of his friend's death
[back]
- Emiliia
Pavlovskaia's husband, Sergei Evgrafovich Pavlovskii
(1846–1915), was also a singer and a member of the Saint Petersburg Mariinskii Theatre's
troupe [back]
This page was last updated on 14 February 2011 |