It was Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s brother Modest who suggested that the composer created an opera adapted from Alexander Pushkin’s The Queen of Spades. At that time, Modest had already started working on a libretto for Pushkin’s short story for composer Nikolai Klenovsky, but the latter failed to rise to the occasion and abandoned his opera.
At first, Tchaikovsky refused, because he did not find the plot of The Queen of Spades to be inspiring. But a while later, the composer changed his mind. Despite all the concerns, he was working on the opera “with pleasure and excitement”. In a letter to his close friend Nadezhda von Meck, Tchaikovsky described the process of creating his work.
He was commissioned to create the opera by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, Director of the Imperial Theaters who was eager to show the composer’s new masterpiece the upcoming theater season. Tchaikovsky, meanwhile, was dreaming of leaving Russia for a while, so he could fully dedicate his time to work, in a quiet European town. Vsevolozhsky’s offer agreed with those plans and the composer took up the project.
He created the opera very quickly, in only 44 days. Tchaikovsky went to Florence and worked nonstop, giving the new project every spare minute. The composer sympathized with his characters deeply and tried to convey every aspect of their worries and doubts. He wrote in his memoirs: “Today I”ve been writing the scene where Hermann comes to the old lady. It was so scary I am still recovering from that fear”.
Tchaikovsky made a few changes to Pushkin’s short story, which had to do with the plot and the characters' personalities. For instance, the ending of the opera was strikingly different from the original. Pushkin’s Hermann goes mad, but stays alive. Tchaikovsky’s opera ends with the two main characters killing themselves.
The composer was also very thorough about the production. Before the premiere, he visited the Figners at their estate to go through their parts. We know that Tchaikovsky was thrilled with how deeply they felt their characters.
Tchaikovsky loved The Queen of Spades and considered it his best work. He used to say, somewhat jokingly: ‘I now feel like the history of the world is divided into two uneven parts. One — from the Creation of the world until The Queen of Spades, and the other one that has started just recently, with the creation of The Queen of Spades’.
At first, Tchaikovsky refused, because he did not find the plot of The Queen of Spades to be inspiring. But a while later, the composer changed his mind. Despite all the concerns, he was working on the opera “with pleasure and excitement”. In a letter to his close friend Nadezhda von Meck, Tchaikovsky described the process of creating his work.
He was commissioned to create the opera by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, Director of the Imperial Theaters who was eager to show the composer’s new masterpiece the upcoming theater season. Tchaikovsky, meanwhile, was dreaming of leaving Russia for a while, so he could fully dedicate his time to work, in a quiet European town. Vsevolozhsky’s offer agreed with those plans and the composer took up the project.
He created the opera very quickly, in only 44 days. Tchaikovsky went to Florence and worked nonstop, giving the new project every spare minute. The composer sympathized with his characters deeply and tried to convey every aspect of their worries and doubts. He wrote in his memoirs: “Today I”ve been writing the scene where Hermann comes to the old lady. It was so scary I am still recovering from that fear”.
Tchaikovsky made a few changes to Pushkin’s short story, which had to do with the plot and the characters' personalities. For instance, the ending of the opera was strikingly different from the original. Pushkin’s Hermann goes mad, but stays alive. Tchaikovsky’s opera ends with the two main characters killing themselves.
The composer was also very thorough about the production. Before the premiere, he visited the Figners at their estate to go through their parts. We know that Tchaikovsky was thrilled with how deeply they felt their characters.
Tchaikovsky loved The Queen of Spades and considered it his best work. He used to say, somewhat jokingly: ‘I now feel like the history of the world is divided into two uneven parts. One — from the Creation of the world until The Queen of Spades, and the other one that has started just recently, with the creation of The Queen of Spades’.
