Enlarge Image Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich - Autograph Letter Signed

Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich (1840-1893)

Name: Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich - Autograph Letter Signed
SKU: ALS-14499
Price: 15000.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Autograph Letter Signed

"P. Tchaikovsky". To Eduard Frantsevich Nápravník. Kamenka, October 5, 1880. 6 pp. total on small oblong bifolium stationary embossed with Tchaikovsky's initials in Cyrillic + one additional loose sheet of the same. In excellent condition with a typical vertical fold. With full English translation.

A rare and fascinating letter in Cyrillic about the premiere of The Maid of Orléans and the publication of the Second Symphony, written to the celebrated Russian conductor Eduard Frantsevich Nápravník.

The letter reads in part: This morning I received your letter and right away set about making alterations, required by the censorship, then I hurried to send the results of my work to Gennady Petrovich. I am very sorry that they insist on turning the Archbishop into a Wanderer, and I am going to ask Jurgenson to go to Petersburg to solicit for allowing me to name this character Cardinal… As to the banning of the crucifixes, I had to shorten the final scene because of that...

…As for the Symphony No. 2, I have to warn you that Mr. Bessel is not likely to live up to his promise to print the scores and solos in the current season; at least, I still have not received the proofs. As a matter of fact, I am quite sorry that I had dealings with this unscrupulous dealer. Meanwhile, it is impossible to perform Symphony No. 2 other than in its new form, because I destroyed the old score. Would you happen to see Mr. Bessel? If yes, be so kind as to tell him, that it is in his best interest to carry out his obligations. If he is absolutely unable to prepare for you the printed solos and the score, then let him at least give you the written copies. I am going to write him about that, though. I thank you, dear Friend, for including my two pieces into the program. This makes me extremely happy…

When the Mariinsky Theatre accepted The Maid of Orléans for performance, Tchaikovsky submitted its libretto to a censorship office that responded with two demands: first, the character of the Archbishop had to be redesignated as a "Pilgrim"; second, the portion of the final scene in which Joan asks for a cross (and a soldier fashions one for her out of two sticks) had to be eliminated. Tchaikovsky altered the final scene, but he did manage, as he suggests in this letter, to strike a compromise in using "Cardinal" (instead of "Archbishop" or "Pilgrim") at the premiere performance. (Subsequent performances, outside of the Mariinsky, reinstated the "Archbishop" designation). This letter's recipient, Eduard Nápravník, was the dedicatee of the opera and conducted its premiere in 1881.

The frustration with "Mr. Bessel" that Tchaikovsky expresses here began with a bungled contract six years prior. Upon the highly successful premiere of his opera Oprichnick in 1872 (which, coincidentally, Nápravník also conducted), Tchaikovsky granted V. V. Bessel limited rights to the publication of its score. Two years later, Tchaikovsky, ever in debt, extended Bessel the complete rights for a larger sum, but Bessel never paid the balance in full. Further delays and disagreements regarding the publication of the Second Symphony prompted Tchaikovsky to favor Jürgenson as his primary publisher thereafter.

Eduard Frantsevich Nápravník (1839-1916) was a Russian composer and conductor of Czech birth. He became the principal conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre in 1869, a post he would hold until his death until 1916, and raised the quality of performance there so significantly that its productions rivalled those of Europe's finest opera companies. Among the many important operatic world premieres he conducted were Tchaikovsky's The Oprichnik, The Maid of Orléans, The Queen of Spades, and Iolanta.

ALS-14499$15,000