Memorable Dates of Russia: Exhibition marking the 180th anniversary of Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the 160th anniversary of Anton Chekhov presented in Klin

The Tchaikovsky Museum-Reserve in Klin (Moscow Region) opened the "Tchaikovsky + Chekhov" exhibition. It marks the 180th anniversary of Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the 160th anniversary of Anton Chekhov. The exhibition will run until September 29, 2020.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Anton Pavlovich Chekhov were not only great contemporaries. They were good friends, who felt emotional sympathy and shared creative plans.

The insight let Tchaikovsky appreciate the creative potential of the young writer. In April 1887, he read Chekhov's story "Letter", originally called "Secular People", and wrote to the brother Modest about the big talent of the writer. In a letter to Yu. P. Shpazhinskaya, he called Chekhov "the future pillar of our literature".

Besides, a feature of Chekhov's creative personality was a keen interest in music, which occupied a significant place in his life and work. The writer admitted that he "terribly liked" the music of Tchaikovsky and especially the opera "Eugene Onegin". He attended the premiere of the opera in 1881, at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. The scene of Tatiana's letter inspired him to create the story "After the Theater", which showcases how the opera affects the young, inexperienced spectator.

Their acquaintance took place in Saint-Petersburg in the house of the composer's brother Modest Ilyich on December 14, 1888. Soon the writer, charmed by Tchaikovsky, decided to devote the next prose collection "Gloomy People" to the composer and asked for permission. Tchaikovsky was touched by the writer's attention and visited him in Moscow on October 14, 1889, at his house on Sadovo-Kudrinskaya. The witness of this meeting, Mikhail Pavlovich Chekhov, said that his brother and Pyotr Ilyich "talked about music and literature". They had plans for joint work - an opera based on Mikhail Lermontov's novel "Bela". Then, the relationship between Chekhov and Tchaikovsky was maintained through the composer's brother, Modest Ilyich. Chekhov was shocked with the sudden death of Tchaikovsky.

Communication and correspondence between Anton Pavlovich and the composer's brother continued until the writer's death. Modest Tchaikovsky, being a recognized playwright, supported Chekhov from his first literary experiments, and later called himself "Chekhov dedicated fan".

The story of Chekhov and Tchaikovsky relations had future development. In 1922, the Society of Friends of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky House-Museum organized a musical and literary evening in Klin "Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Anton Chekhov". It involved the writer's widow Olga Knipper-Chekhova, Konstantin Stanislavsky, artists of the Bolshoi and Art theatres. The Pyotr Tchaikovsky House-Museum conducted scientific research and edited publications, held exhibitions, concerts and performances devoted to two great contemporaries. This exhibition is not the first project of the P. I. Tchaikovsky State Memorial Music Museum-Reserve and the A. P. Chekhov State Literary-Memorial Museum-Reserve. It is the result of many years of friendship and cooperation.