Undina (Tchaikovsky)

Opera fragment by Tchaikovsky

For other uses, see Undine (disambiguation).

Undina

Opera fragment by Tchaikovsky

Photography of Tchaikovsky as a student at the Moscow Conservatory, 1863

Native title|

Russian: Ундина

Librettist| Vladimir Sollogub
Language| Russian
Based on| Ondine
by De la Motte Fouqué

Undina (sometimes Undine or Ondine) (Russian: Ундина listenⓘ) is an opera in three acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The work was composed in 1869. The libretto was written by Vladimir Sollogub, and is based on Vasily Zhukovsky's translation of Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué's novella Ondine.

## History

[edit]

The opera was composed during the months of January to July 1869, but Tchaikovsky destroyed the score in 1873, preserving only a few numbers from the opera. The opera has never been performed in its entirety.

The only extracts that survive are:

1. Introduction
2. Aria: "Waterfall, my uncle, streamlet, my brother" (Undina)
3. Chorus: "Help, help! Our stream is raging"
4. Duet: "O happiness, O blessed moment" (Undina, Huldbrand)
5. Chorus: "O hours of death" (soloists, chorus)

At least three of these pieces – the aria, the duet, and the final chorus – were performed at the Moscow premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on 28 March 1870.

Some music from the opera was subsequently re-used in Tchaikovsky's other works:

* The bridal procession of act 3 was adapted for the Andantino marziale of his Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian" (1872).
* The introduction was used unchanged as the introduction to his incidental music to Ostrovsky's play The Snow Maiden (1873).
* Undina's aria was somewhat altered and put to use as the first song of Lel in The Snow Maiden.
* The duet was recycled as the duet (No. 13-V) of Siegfried and Odette in act 2 of Swan Lake (1875–1876). The vocal parts were replaced by solo cello and violin.

## Roles

[edit]

Undine (1872) by John William Waterhouse Roles, voice types, premiere cast Role  | Voice type | Premiere cast
28 March [OS 16 March] 1870
Conductor: Eduard Merten[1]

|
|

Goldmann, an old fisherman | bass |
Bertha, his wife | mezzo-soprano |
Undina, their adopted daughter | soprano | A. Alexandrova-Kochetova
Huldbrand, a knight | tenor | Aleksandr Dodonov
The Duke  | bass  |
Berthalda, the Duke's daughter | mezzo-soprano  |
Chorus, silent roles: People

## Instrumentation

[edit]

* Strings: violins, violas, cellos, and double basses
* Woodwinds: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (B-flat), 2 bassoons
* Brass: 4 horns (all F), 2 trumpets (B-flat), 2 trombones, tuba
* Percussion: timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum
* Other: harp, piano

Source[2]

## Setting

[edit]

Time: The 15th century

Place: Germany, near the springs of the Danube; Ringstetten Castle (Burg Ringstetten)

## Recordings

[edit]

Vocal and orchestral numbers

* "Excerpts from the Opera Undine" Tamara Milashkina (Undine), Yevgeny Raikov (Gulbrand), Moscow Radio Chorus (Konstantin Lebedev, director), Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Akulov, conductor. Melodiya / ABC Westminster Gold WGS 8300, 1975. LP.
Features three selections from Undina: act 1: Undine's Song; act 1: Finale; act 3: Duet of Undine and Gulbrand.
* "Undine: fragments from the unfinished opera" Tamara Milashkina (Undine), Yevgeny Raikov (Gulbrand), Moscow Radio Chorus, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yevgeny Akulov. Melodiya, 1988. CD.
A CD reissue of the above LP, subsequently re-released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (Petaluma, California) in 1989. It features the same three selections as in the 1975 issue, plus the introduction (Ouverture), with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Gauk.
* "Vodopad moy dyadya" from Undina, On Guilty Pleasures. Renée Fleming, soprano, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, conductor. London/Decca B0019033-02, 2013. CD.
* Undina: surviving fragments. Anna Aglatova (Undina), Aleksey Tataritsev (Gulbrand), Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Popov Academy of Choral Arts, Vladimir Fedoseyev, conductor. Published 23 November 2015.[3]
Concert performance of all five surviving numbers, including the previously unrecorded "Bridal March", recorded 13 November 2015 at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, with Mikhail Fillipov reciting extracts from Zhukovsky's story.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Eduard Merten became 2nd conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre shortly before 1870. He was "a talented pianist and composed romances, but was completely inexperienced as a conductor" (Kashkin, Erinnerungen, 64, 66) Edward H. Tarr, East Meets West: The Russian Trumpet Tradition from the Time of Peter the Great
2. ^ "Undina", tchaikovsky-research.net
3. ^ Undine concert performance on YouTube

## External links

[edit]

* Undina (Tchaikovsky): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

* v
* t
* e

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

* List of compositions
* Musical style
* Symphonies
* The Five
* Belyayev circle
* Death

Operas|

* The Voyevoda
* Undina
* The Oprichnik
* Vakula the Smith
* Eugene Onegin
* The Maid of Orleans
* Mazepa (or Mazeppa)
* Cherevichki
* The Enchantress
* The Queen of Spades
* Iolanta

Ballets|

* Swan Lake
* The Sleeping Beauty
* The Nutcracker

Symphonies|

* No. 1 in G minor (Winter Daydreams)
* No. 2 in C minor (Little Russian)
* No. 3 in D major (Polish)
* No. 4 in F minor
* Symphony in B minor (Manfred)
* No. 5 in E minor
* No. 6 in B minor (Pathétique)
* Symphony in E♭ major (unfinished)

Concertante|

* Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor
* Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major
* Piano Concerto No. 3 in E♭ major
* Concert Fantasia
* Andante and Finale
* Sérénade mélancolique
* Valse-Scherzo
* Violin Concerto in D major
* Variations on a Rococo Theme
* Pezzo capriccioso
* Cello Concerto

Orchestral works|

* Romeo and Juliet
* The Tempest
* Hamlet
* Capriccio Italien
* Francesca da Rimini
* The Storm
* Fatum
* The Voyevoda
* 1812 Overture
* Marche slave
* Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem
* Festival Coronation March
* Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor
* Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major
* Orchestral Suite No. 3 in G major
* Orchestral Suite No. 4 in G major (Mozartiana)
* Serenade for Strings

Vocal music|

* Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
* All-Night Vigil
* Moscow
* Six Romances (Op. 38)

Chamber music|

* Quartet Movement in B♭ major
* String Quartet No. 1 in D major
* String Quartet No. 2 in F major
* String Quartet No. 3 in E♭ minor
* Souvenir d'un lieu cher
* Piano Trio in A minor
* String Sextet in D minor (Souvenir de Florence)

Piano music|

* Scherzo à la russe
* Souvenir de Hapsal
* The Seasons
* Grand Piano Sonata in G major
* Piano Sonata No. 2 in C♯ minor

Portrayals|

* Tchaikovsky (1970 film)
* The Music Lovers (1971 film)

People|

* Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky (brother)
* Vladimir Davydov (nephew)
* Antonina Miliukova (wife)
* Nadezhda von Meck (patron)

Related|

* In popular media
* Attempted suicide theory
* Tchaikovsky State House-Museum
* Tchaikovsky Museum (Votkinsk)
* Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory
* Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra
* Chaikovskij (crater)
* International Tchaikovsky Competition
* International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians
* Life

* Category
* Audio

* v
* t
* e

Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué

Ballets|

* Ondine, ou La naïade (1843)
* Ondine (1958)

Operas|

* Undine (1816)
* Undine (1845)
* Undina (1869)

Other adaptations|

* Sonata Undine (1882 composition)
* Undine (1916 film)
* Ondine (1938 play)

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Germany
* United States

Other|

* MusicBrainz work

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