Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky

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Modest Tchaikovsky

Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Модест Ильич Чайковский, May 13 [OS May 1] 1850, Alapaevsk – January 15 [OS January 2] 1916, Moscow) was a Russian dramatist, opera librettist and translator.

1 Biography
2 Plays
3 Opera libretti
4 Bibliography
5 References
6 External links

Biography

Modest Ilyich was the younger brother of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. He graduated from the School of Jurisprudence with a degree in law. Like many graduates of this school (including his brother) he was homosexual and lived relatively openly with his boyfriend, Nikolai (‘Kolia’) Hermanovich Konradi (1868-1923), a deaf and dumb boy whom Modest tutored and with whom he lived for about seventeen years from 1876.^[1]

Tchaikovsky chose to dedicate his entire life to literature and music. He wrote plays, translated sonnets by Shakespeare into Russian and wrote librettos for operas of his brother, as well as other composers such as Eduard Nápravník, Arseny Koreshchenko, Anton Arensky and Sergei Rachmaninov. Being the nearest friend of his brother, he became his first biographer, and also the founder of Tchaikovsky's museum in Klin.

Plays

Predrassudki (Предрассудки – Prejudices)
Simfoniya (Симфония – Symphony)
Den’ v Peterburge (День в Петербурге – Day in St Petersburg)

Opera libretti

The Queen of Spades (Пиковая дама - Pikovaya dama), music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky Op. 68, 1890 (premiered: December 19 [OS December 7] 1890, St Petersburg).

Iolanta (Иоланта – Iolanthe), based on the Danish play Kong Renés Datte King René’s Daughter by Henrik Hertz. The play was translated by Fyodor Miller and adapted by Vladimir Rafailovich Zotov, music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky Op. 69, 1891 (premiered: 1892, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg).

Dubrovsky (Дубровский) , music by Eduard Nápravník, (premiered: January 15, [OS January 3] 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg.

Ledyanoy dom (Ледяной дом), music by Arseny Koreshchenko, (premiered: November 20 [OS November 7], 1900, Moscow).

Nal’ i Damayanty (Наль и Дамаянти), after the epos Mahabharata, music by Anton Arensky, (premiered: January 22 [OS January 9] 1904, Moscow).

Francesca da Rimini (Франческа да Римини) after the story of the heroine Francesca da Rimini from the fifth canto of Dante's epic poem The Inferno (the first part of Divine Comedy), music by Sergei Rachmaninov Op. 25 (written 1904, premiered: January 24 [OS January 11], 1906, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow).