Tchaikovsky, Pjotr Il'yich.

informing him that he has just completed three revisions to the opera, which he has sent to his publisher Jurgenson: Tchaikovsky explains that he has added a conclusion in the key of E major to the Opening scene at Mazeppa's words, "Eh, men get on your horses"; that, in the second scene of Act Two, there is a cut and also some new music, requiring the singers to relearn it and that he has concluded the finale to Act Three by extending the Lullaby, and he expresses hope that Nápravnik will remain content with these changes; Tchaikovsky concludes by telling Nápravnik that he is about to go to Kamenka in the country, where the conductor can contact him if there are further problems, and sends his greetings to his wife Olga Eduardovna, 4 pages, small 4to, onto printed notepaper with the monogram ("PT"), with some splitting at folds, Moscow, 26 March [1884] (old style)



4 pages, small 4to, on printed notepaper with the monogram ("PT"),  Moscow, 26 March [1884] (old style), with some splitting at folds

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Eduard Nápravnik (1839-1916) was a leading figure in Russian musical life for over a century, from 1869 succeding Lyadov as principal conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky had considerable faith in his abilities of a conductor who had directed the premieres of over eighty Russian operas, including his own Queen of Spades and The Maid of Orleans, and also Musorgsky's Boris Godunov.

Tchaikovsky composed Mazeppa mainly during the winter of 1882. Nápravnik had examined the early versions and criticized the length of the duet between Mazeppa and Mariya in Act Two (see David Brown, Tchaikovsky. A Biograpical and Critical Study, iii, London, Gollancz, 1986, p. 174). Tchaikovsky had such a high regard for him that he had delayed orchestrating the opera until the conductor was satisfied. Tchaikovsky's letter concerns the alterations made after the premiere, including to those parts Nápravnik had criticized (Brown, iii, 255). This work is also referred to in his letter to his brother Modest, written the previous day (in Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Letters to his Family, translated by G. von Meck, New York, 1981, p. 301). Kamenka (near Kiev in the Ukraine), the estate of his sister-in-law's family, the Davydov's, was Tchaikovsky's favoured place of refuge; but in the event his departure was greatly delayed.