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Odessa (Odesa)

Odesa (Одеса) is a seaport and resort city on the Black Sea coast, and the fourth-largest city in Ukraine, being the capital of the Odesa district (Одеська міськрада) and Odesa oblast (Одеська область). During Tchaikovsky's lifetime it was known as Odessa (Одесса), and was the administrative centre of the Odessa district (Одесский уезд) in the Nikolayevsk province (Николаевская губерния) of the Russian Empire.

Tchaikovsky visited Odessa on two occasions:

• 11/23 July–12/24 July 1887 — the composer was impressed on his arrival in the Odessa, attending a concert in the city gardens, and visiting the cathedral the next day. He found the latter to be "Grand, but not appealing. The singing was unimpressive, and the selection simply disgraceful. As always I was enraged by the singing. It's only in the countryside that I can listen without being furious" [1].
• 12/24 January–25 January/6 February 1893 — rehearsing and conducting five concerts (see below), as well as attending rehearsals and a production of The Queen of Spades by Ivan Grekov's opera company (19/31 January). During his stay in the city he was also guest of honour at a dinner in the English Club, and he sat for a portrait by the leading artist Nikolay Kuznetsov. "Odessa is a very attractive city, but this current winter is as severe as in the north, and it therefore resembles any northern city in the midst of winter. The sea is frozen for tens of versts" [2]

Tchaikovsky's concert schedule in Odessa was as follows:

• 16/28 January 1893 — the 1st Russian Musical Society symphony concert, including the fantasia The Tempest; Variations on a Rococo Theme (soloist Wladyslaw Alois); the Andante cantabile from String Quartet No. 1; various piano pieces (soloist Sophie Menter); the Suite from The Nutcracker ballet.
• 21 January/2 February 1893 — a charity concert at the Rishelyevskaya School to raise funds for poor students, including two movements from the Suite from The Nutcracker.
• 22 January/3 February 1893 — a charity concert of the Slavonic Society, including the Elegy for String Orchestra; the Andante cantabile from String Quartet No. 1; the Waltz from the Serenade for String Orchestra
• 23 January/4 February 1893 — the 2nd Russian Musical Society symphony concert, including the Symphony No. 1 by Alexander Borodin; the Violin Concerto in F♯ minor (Op. 23) by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst; Scherzo for orchestra by Porfiry Molchanov; Ungarische Zigeunerweisen by Sophie Menter; and Tchaikovsky's own overture The Year 1812.
• 24 January/5 February 1893 — the 3rd Russian Musical Society symphony concert, including The Tempest; the Andante cantabile from String Quartet No. 1; the Suite from The Nutcracker ballet; and the songs Not a Word o My Friend—No. 2 of Six Romances (Op. 6) and Don Juan's Serenade—No. 1 of Six Romances (Op. 38)—both sung by Antonovskaya.

Afterwards the composer wrote: "Never have I been so exhausted from conducting as in Odessa because I had to conduct five concerts, but nowhere have I been so praised and feted as here... There were many intolerable heavy hours (e.g. the festival dinner at the English club), but also many gratifying ones. If only I could be lauded one tenth as much in the capitals as I was in Odessa!" [3.

External links:
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• Wikipedia entry for Odessa

Notes:

1. Diary entry for 12/24 July 1887 [back]
2. Letter 4850 to Anna Merkling, 24 January/5 February 1893 [back]
3. Letter 4852 to Modest Tchaikovsky, 28 January/9 February 1893 [back]