Tchaikovsky
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Letter 3347
| Date | 11/23 September 1887 |
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| Addressed to | Emiliia Pavlovskaia |
| Where written | Maidanovo |
| Language | Russian |
| Autograph Location | Moscow: A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum (Pavlovskaia collection) |
| Publication | Чайковский на Московской сцене (1940), p. 402–403 П. И. Чайковский. Полное собрание сочинений, том XIV (1974), p. 211–212. |
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Russian text (original) |
English translation |
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| 11 сентября | 11 September | |
| Голубушка Эмилия Карловна! | Darling Emiliia Karlovna! | |
| Я боюсь за дуэтик Ваш с Княгиней (стр. 354 и 355) и подумываю, не выкинуть ли его? Он на спевке звучал скверно. Выкинуть его очень легко, т. е. после слов «напьюсь и я воды с тобой» дать в оркестре два такта следующего содержания: | I am worried about the short duet between you and the Princess (pp. 354 and 355) and am considering whether it might not be better to discard it [1]. At the preliminary rehearsal it sounded quite bad [2]. It would be very easy to discard it, i.e. after the words: "I shall have a drink of water with you", one could insert two bars for the orchestra as follows: | |
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| а далее идёт: «пей, голубка, пей до дна» и т. д. Но тогда успеет ли Княгиня зачерпнуть воды, налить яд и подать Куме? Может быть, Княгиня могла бы всё это проделать при словах: «и пьют его в лихих напастях» и т. д. | and after that comes: "drink, my dear, drink it to the dregs" and so on. But in that case would the Princess have enough time to ladle the water into the cup, pour poison into it, and offer it to Kuma? Perhaps the Princess could manage to do all this at the same time as she sings: "and it is drunk during evil disasters" etc. | |
| Что Вы думаете об этом? При случае спросите Направника! Что он скажет? А я бы непрочь выкинуть. | What do you think about this? When you have the opportunity do ask Nápravník! I wonder what he'll say? I would be quite willing to discard it. | |
| Целую ручки | I kiss your hands | |
| П. Чайковский | P. Tchaikovsky | |
Notes:
- Tchaikovsky did in fact remove the duet between Kuma/Nastas'ia and the Princess from Act IV of The Enchantress, which Eduard Nápravník in general considered to be too long. In her reply of 17/29 September 1887 Emiliia Pavlovskaia told Tchaikovsky that she was happy for this duet to be cut, and that Mariia Slavina (who was to sing the Princess) also agreed to this modification. Pavlovskaia's reply has been published in: Чайковский на московской сцене (1940), p. 403–404 [back]
- The preliminary rehearsal (without orchestra) of The Enchantress had taken place at the Saint Petersburg Mariinskii Theatre on 7/19 September 1887. Tchaikovsky attended this rehearsal and consulted with the singers and Nápravník about necessary cuts and modifications to the opera [back]
This page was last updated on 18 February 2011