Othello - Revision history

Tony at 19:53, 19 February 2023

2023-02-19T19:53:27Z

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	[[Stasov]] immediately drafted a scenario for the opera, to which Tchaikovsky suggested a number of changes <ref name="note2"/>. Due to other commitments, [[Stasov]] was unable to start work on the libretto right away. On 9/21 February 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote to him: "It is ''essential'' for me to receive the scenario you have compiled for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th acts. Only in the first act can I manage without your gracious assistance. The sooner I receive these three acts, the better. But this does not mean that I would wish you to abandon all your work and turn your attention to ''Othello''. Do it ''whenever you please and how you please'', but without receiving your scenario for the last three acts I cannot manage, and so I await them patiently, but eagerly" <ref name="note3"/>.		[[Stasov]] immediately drafted a scenario for the opera, to which Tchaikovsky suggested a number of changes <ref name="note2"/>. Due to other commitments, [[Stasov]] was unable to start work on the libretto right away. On 9/21 February 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote to him: "It is ''essential'' for me to receive the scenario you have compiled for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th acts. Only in the first act can I manage without your gracious assistance. The sooner I receive these three acts, the better. But this does not mean that I would wish you to abandon all your work and turn your attention to ''Othello''. Do it ''whenever you please and how you please'', but without receiving your scenario for the last three acts I cannot manage, and so I await them patiently, but eagerly" <ref name="note3"/>.

	Within two months [[Stasov]] had suggested a completely different opera subject—''The Cardinal'' (after a story by Alfred de Vigny), which the composer rejected outright <ref name="note4"/>, and nothing more was heard of ''Othello'' <ref name="note5"/>.		Within two months, [[Stasov]] had suggested a completely different opera subject—''The Cardinal'' (after a story by Alfred de Vigny), which the composer rejected outright <ref name="note4"/>, and nothing more was heard of ''Othello'' <ref name="note5"/>.

	==Notes and References==		==Notes and References==

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Tchaikovsky considered [[William Shakespeare]]'s drama '''''Othello''''' (Отелло) as a possible subject for an opera ([[TH]] 213 ; [[ČW]] 454) during the winter of 1876/77.

The suggestion came in November or December 1876 from [[Vladimir Stasov]], who offered to prepare a detailed libretto. On 11/23 December 1876, Tchaikovsky replied with enthusiasm: "I not only ask, but ''demand'' that you fulfil your promise. Now the seed of [[Shakespeare]]'s tragedy has taken root in ground of my musical imagination, how could I not write ''Othello''?" <ref name="note1"/>.

[[Stasov]] immediately drafted a scenario for the opera, to which Tchaikovsky suggested a number of changes <ref name="note2"/>. Due to other commitments, [[Stasov]] was unable to start work on the libretto right away. On 9/21 February 1877, Tchaikovsky wrote to him: "It is ''essential'' for me to receive the scenario you have compiled for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th acts. Only in the first act can I manage without your gracious assistance. The sooner I receive these three acts, the better. But this does not mean that I would wish you to abandon all your work and turn your attention to ''Othello''. Do it ''whenever you please and how you please'', but without receiving your scenario for the last three acts I cannot manage, and so I await them patiently, but eagerly" <ref name="note3"/>.

Within two months [[Stasov]] had suggested a completely different opera subject—''The Cardinal'' (after a story by Alfred de Vigny), which the composer rejected outright <ref name="note4"/>, and nothing more was heard of ''Othello'' <ref name="note5"/>.

==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">[[Letter 520]] to [[Vladimir Stasov]], 11/23 December 1876.</ref>
<ref name="note2">See letter from [[Vladimir Stasov]] to Tchaikovsky, 13/25 December 1876, and the composer's reply in [[Letter 525]], 19/31 December 1876. A complete English translation of Stasov's scenario is included in [[ČW]], p. 814.</ref>
<ref name="note3">[[Letter 541]] to [[Vladimir Stasov]], 9/21 February 1877.</ref>
<ref name="note4">[[Letter 548]] to [[Vladimir Stasov]], 8/20 April 1877.</ref>
<ref name="note5">See {{bib|2002/22|The Tchaikovsky Handbook, vol. 1}} (2002), p. 400.</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Projected Works]]
[[Category:Operas]]