Cherevichki

Cherevichki (Russian: Черевички, Cherevichki, Čerevički, The Slippers; alternative renderings are The Little Shoes, The Tsarina's Slippers, The Empress's Slippers, The Golden Slippers, The Little Slippers, Les caprices d'Oxane, and Gli stivaletti) is a comic-fantastic opera in 4 acts, 8 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was composed in 1885 in Maidanovo, Russia. The libretto was written by Yakov Polonsky, and is based on the story "Christmas Eve", part of a collection called Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, by Nikolai Gogol. The opera is a revision of Tchaikovsky's earlier opera Vakula the Smith. The work was first performed in 1887 in Moscow.

The opera was composed between February and April 1885 at Maidanovo. Both Vakula the Smith and Cherevichki were set to Polonsky's libretto, which was originally intended for Alexander Serov, but had remained unused on account of his death. Additions and revisions for this second version were made by the composer and Nikolay Chayev.

The main thematic material of the second version of the opera is the same as in Vakula the Smith. The alterations were caused by a wish to help the opera "out of the river of oblivion" (letter by Tchaikovsky of 4 March 1885). The editing primarily simplified some elements of musical texture. The lyric sphere of the opera was deepened by the introduction of a new aria inserted for Vakula: Slyshit li devitsa serdtse tvoe... (Who knows, my girl, if your heart can feel my pain...). But the addition of the song of the School Teacher and the verses of His Highness enrich the genre part of the opera. Tchaikovsky also changed the cast of the chorus scenes, as in No. 13 (Kolyadka).

The premiere was given on 31 January 1887 [OS January 19] at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow conducted by Tchaikovsky (it was his debut as a conductor) with stage direction by A. I. Bartsal and scenic design by K. F. Valts. During the 20th century the opera was performed very rarely, revived almost exclusively within Russia and the USSR. It received its Polish premiere in the Baltic Opera House in Gdańsk on 28 June 1952.Wexford Festival Opera presented five performances of a new production in October 1993. It was shown in the United Kingdom for the first time at Garsington Opera on 26 June 2004, and then at The Royal Opera House Covent Garden on 20 November 2009 (one of the later performances was broadcast).

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