The influence of French lyrical romances on creativity of P. Tchaikovsky and their significance in the formation of the performing principles of the Russian chamber-vocal culture of the mid-XIX century

Stepanidina Ol'ga Dmitrievna ORCID: 0000-0002-9137-0300 PhD in Art History Professor, Department of Chamber Ensemble and Concertmaster Training, Saratov State Conservatory named after L.V. Sobinov 410012, Russia, Saratovskaya oblast', g. Saratov, ul. Prosp. Im. Kirova, 1 stepanidina047@gmail.com

Demidov Viсtor Anatolyevich Professor, Department of Academic Singing, Saratov State Conservatory named after L.V. Sobinov 410012, Russia, Saratovskaya oblast', g. Saratov, prop. im.Kirova S.M., 1 Vic.A.Demidov@gmail.com

Russian Russian and French musical culture in the XVIII century was closely linked: French as a household language in an aristocratic environment and French romances as the basis of the performing repertoire in Russian noble salons greatly influenced the formation of Russian romance and domestic performing culture ^[13]. But even in the XIX century, French vocal music continued to be of some interest not only as an opera and chamber repertoire, but also as a material that inspired individual Russian composers to create a kind of French reminiscences. This mainly concerned the chamber-vocal creativity of P. Tchaikovsky.

On the eve of great changes and after the French Revolution of 1848, the refined salon genre of the sung poem with unpretentious instrumental accompaniment lost its audience – the aristocracy. The French bourgeoisie lacked the culture to perceive such a fragile aristocratic flower – salon romance, and the composers were the creators of the bolshoi opera they were not interested in small genres, and therefore by the 60s of the XIX century, the traditions of salon romance, which enjoyed great love in Europe in general and in Russia in particular, were practically lost.

However, with the advent of a new type of French opera – lyrical – many of its authors (J. Bizet, S. Gounod, L. Delibes, J. Massenet, C. Saint-Saens) willingly turned to creating a chamber vocal genre. In their work, there are still romances as echoes of elegant French chamber vocal lyrics of the XVIII century, flirtatious unpretentious couplet songs, scene songs in which the vocal melody is rather a sung poem, and rather short vocal phrases located in the middle register of the voice are extremely convenient for expressive utterance of the text. Songs like "Viens! Les garzons sont verts!" ("Come, the lawns are already turning green", the words of J. Barbier), "Compliment" ("Courtesy", the words of A. Dumas-son), or "Bonjour, Suzon!" ("Hello, Suzon!", the words of A. de Musset) L. Delibes vividly reminded a few visitors to the new French salons about the flirtatious Chansons of the past century and the musical entertainments of the aristocracy.

With the advent of the era of lyrical opera, not only the plot of the opera has changed, but also its design: instead of the bright pathetic monologues characterizing the heroes of the Grand Operas, romances and serenades, stanzas, elegies and songs come to the opera scores, designed to characterize the experiences of the new hero with greater reliability. The admiration of French composers for the art of the great Italian opera singers led to the strengthening of the lyrical element in opera, expressed in the appearance of cantilevered melodism. Thus, S. Gounod writes that listening to his first opera work in 1831 - "Othello" by J. Rossini – performed by M. Malibran, J. Roubini and L. Lablache led him into a "state of ecstatic admiration" ^{[2, p.31]}.

The desire of composers to see the great masters of Italian opera – owners of bright voices, luxurious timbres, full range, adherents of cantilena as the main expressive means of the Italian repertoire and legato as the main professional touch of the Italian singer – as performers of his compositions, it definitely left an imprint on the nature of the musical thematism of opera arias. It is enough to recall the unprecedented success accompanying the aria-waltz of Margarita, the romance of Siebel and the poetic love outpouring of Faust contained in the first French lyric opera "Faust" by S. Gounod, whose premiere on March 19, 1859 marked the arrival of not only new themes, but also a new musical design. According to Y. Kremlev, S. Gounod not only boldly, but most importantly – "resolutely and for a long time asserted the principles of the so-called "lyric opera"" ^{[5, pp.26-27]}. Indeed, Faust's inspired love confession then finds its continuation in the charming aria of Nadir ("Pearl Seekers" by J. Bizet) and Jose's aria with a flower ("Carmen" by J. Bizet), in Romeo's monologue ("Romeo and Juliet" by S. Gounod) and "Stanzas of Ossian" ("Werther" by J. Massenet). All these musical numbers are united by the character of vocal thematism: cantilevered melodism, extended melodic lines covering the entire tenor range.

In almost all periods of its development, romance has been closely associated with opera art, especially when it comes to the works of composers – creators of both opera compositions and chamber music. New romances began to include new trends that came from the scores of lyrical operas, and this, first of all, was expressed in the primacy of cantilevered vocal melodism and the coverage of the entire vocal range. By the middle of the XIX century in France, according to A. Khokhlovkina, "the main repertoire of home and concert music making consisted of arias from popular operas and operettas and so–called "melodies" - works for voice accompanied by piano" ^{[16, p.176]}.

Composer-innovator Sh. Gounod and his collaborators in the creation of the French lyric opera J. Bizet, L. Delibes, J. Massenet, C. Saint-Saens, A. Thomas actively joined in the development of fundamentally  a new type of romance: it was created not for an aristocratic salon and not for salon performers, but for opera singers and a wider audience. As A. Khokhlovkina rightly states, "the numerous romances of Gounod and Tom lay close to the opera and did not yet contain the specifics of the chamber style – an in-depth interpretation of the poetic text and the unity of the vocal and developed piano parts" [Ibid.]. Thus, S. Gounod titled his vocal compositions Melodie, emphasizing their operatic-cantilevered vocal nature. The dithyramb "Au printemps" ("In Spring", words by J. Barbier) with its flight melody, with the release of the refrain melody in the upper register of the voice and an operatic spectacular bright finale became especially repertory. Of great interest are lyrical romances that have similarities with lyrical arias. The music of the romance "Le vallon" ("Valley", words by Lamartine) was included in the opera "Sappho", that is, it was originally supposed to be performed in an operatic style. The presence of a certain intonational similarity with the melodic cantilena of Valentine's aria ("Faust") is present not only in the romance "Le vallon" ("Valley"), but also in the melodies "Le banc de pierre" ("Stone Bench", words by P. de Gaudens) and "Soir d'automne" ("Autumn Evening", the words of S. Gounod). In some romances ("Valley", "Stone Bench") recitation alternates with chanting cantilevered phrases, often accompanied by similar melodic voices in the piano part, which occasionally creates vocal and instrumental duets, In the romances "Le soir" ("Evening", words by A. de Lamartine) and "La fleur du foyer" ("The Flower of the Hearth", words by G. Linga) of great importance for the creations of the general emotional mood have detailed piano interludes. Preserving elegance, softness, grace, vocal lines in such romances as "Ouvre tes yeux bleus" ("Open your blue eyes" from the "Poem of Love" by P. Robiquet) by J. Massenet or "Si vous n'avez a ve dire..." ("If you don't need to speak", words by V. Hugo) C. Saint-Saens become longer, recalling the singing vocal phrases of arias and duets of Manon ("Manon" by J. Massenet) and Romeo ("Romeo and Juliet" by S. Gounod), Nadir ("Pearl Seekers" by L. Delibes) and Valentina ("Huguenots" by J. Meyerbeer).

In the new lyrical romances, vocal melodies began to differ not only in the breadth and coverage of the full singing range, coherence, cantilence, chant; they began to use bright nuances and operatic techniques (fermato on the upper notes in the forte nuance). The piano part itself and its relationship with the voice part are becoming more active. Such, for example, are the romances of J. Bizet's "Absence" ("Separation", words by Gaultier), "N'oublions pas!" ("Don't forget!", words by J. Barbier) and "Reve de la bien aimee" ("The Dream of my beloved", words by L. de Gourmaud), in which the cantilevered vocal theme is at least the bright piano part is a genuine vocal-instrumental duet, and in the final episodes the melody covers the extreme upper register in an operatic way, forming a bright enthusiastic finale.

Similar lyrical romances by S. Gounod, J. Bizet, L. Delibes, J. Massenet, and A. Toma became an example to follow in P. Tchaikovsky's creation of chamber vocal lyrics.

A lot is known about P. Tchaikovsky's love for the music of French composers. In 1883, in a letter to von Meck, P. Tchaikovsky writes at length about his attitude to contemporary French music, in which he appreciates "novelty and freshness"; he likes "the sense of proportion they hold, their willingness to lag behind the age-old routine, but in order to stay within the limits of the elegant." P. Tchaikovsky is particularly distinguished by Zh . Bizet, but also other composers: Massenet, Delibes, Guiraud, Lalo, Godart, Saint-Saens for him "people with talent" ^{[17, p.151]}. In a letter addressed to S. Taneyev dated April 3, 1883, P. Tchaikovsky speaks about his attitude to S. Gounod, who "among the few in our time" writes "not from preconceived theories, but from the suggestion of feeling. Moreover, he is an avid admirer of Mozart, and this proves the integrity, the unspoiled nature of his musical nature" ^{[18, p.102]}. It is known that the attitude to the music of his idol V. A. Mozart for P. Tchaikovsky was a criterion of musical taste. P. Tchaikovsky called J. Meyerbeer a "genius" composer and believed that The Huguenots was "one of the most beautiful operas in the entire lyrical repertoire" ^{[19, p.99]}. 

P. Tchaikovsky defended the principles that were close to the composers of the new French school of composition, the authors of lyrical operas, and he puts melodism at the forefront. It is worth paying attention to the episodes that P. Tchaikovsky admires first of all: This is a love scene from the 4th D. opera by J. Meyerbeer's "Huguenots", the role of Margarita in the opera by S. Gounod "Faust". The scene of Mephistopheles in The Condemnation of Faust by G. Berlioz inspired Tchaikovsky to create a literally poetic masterpiece of critical writing: "To convey in words the overwhelming beauty of this music would be an audacious attempt to go beyond the limits indicated by the human word. Berlioz touched here that azure height into which only through music can sometimes penetrate a person's artistic sense" [Ibid., p.196].

Let us isolate from P. Tchaikovsky's articles the important things that attract him in the music of French composers – his contemporaries: "impetuous and passionate melodies", "feeling", "musical beauty", "elegance". Tchaikovsky's element is lyrics. Yes, it is nationally and personally different from the lyrics of French composers, but melodism, the primacy of the voice with a fairly active participation of the instrumental part – these qualities were also distinguished by the best scenes and arias in the operas of J. Bizet, S. Gounod, L. Delibes, J. Massenet, J. Meyerbeer, C. Saint-Saens, A. Thoma and created by them romances.

After the Patriotic War of 1812, on the crest of the patriotic wave, the French language went out of fashion. In addition, the bulk of the new listeners did not have a broad education, and French as a spoken, everyday language lost its meaning, as a result of which romance in French ceased to be understandable, giving listeners exquisite aesthetic pleasure. Russian Russian school of composition made a powerful statement about itself at that time in its Russian concert romances (dramatic monologues, dithyrambs). she began to give answers to the spiritual and emotional demands of the public.

Compared with the solemn procession of historical novels, dramas, plays, works with a bright civic theme, which by the middle of the XIX century in Russia occupied a central place in literary life and in domestic criticism, love lyrics flowed like a thin stream, but, combined with music, continued to show imperishable masterpieces. By itself, the beauty of the verse, refined vocabulary, the absence of poster primitiveness, the presence of a certain understatement – all this inspired Russian composers to create intimate poetic and musical compositions of a special kind, referring to confidential tet-a-tet conversations in cozy aristocratic living rooms and salons. In essence, French echoes in Russian chamber vocal music remained a small island nostalgically linking the new vocal performing culture with the outgoing culture of the salons of the XVIII – first half of the XIX century.

Gone are the flirtatious album poems brilliantly presented in the works of poets of Pushkin's time, which can be found in A. Delvig, E. Baratynsky, V. Zhukovsky. It is hard to imagine that now romances like the miniatures "Recognition" by M. Glinka and "Legs" by A. Dargomyzhsky on the poems of A. Pushkin or Mazurka by M. Glinka "To her" on the words of A. Mickiewicz could appear. Composers, creating a genre of romance akin to the salon, which in the second half of the XIX century passed into literary and other intelligent circles, began to choose love lyrics of a different nature: the poems carried a trembling chastity, a special, careful attitude to a deeply intimate feeling that can be expressed by expounding it quietly, confidentially, avoiding excessive passion. Such sentiments are imbued with the poems of one of the most beloved Russian composers of the mid-XIX century poets A. Tolstoy, the subtle lyrics of A. Fet, L. Maikov. Russian lyrical poetry continued to nourish one of the directions of Russian chamber and vocal music, becoming the basis of lyrical romance, marked by a certain influence of modern opera culture. First of all, it concerned the presence in the vocal part of the romance of a more chanting type of melodism used by composers for lyrical revelations and elegant landscape sketches. This path was already outlined in the lyrical vocal miniatures of C. Kui, but to a much greater extent it manifested itself in the vocal work of P. Tchaikovsky.

The first romances inspired by the influence of vocal France were written by P. Tchaikovsky in the 80s. Some of these romances by P. Tchaikovsky sometimes arise using some French musical material as a starting point, the primary source from which the fantasy of the Russian composer leads far away, while somehow mysteriously maintaining a thin line of communication with him. Such, for example, is the romance "The soul quietly flew through the heavens" to the poems of A. Tolstoy. On July 18, 1880, in a significant letter to his brother, P. Tchaikovsky recognized as a "masterpiece" the duet of Christ and Magdalene from the cantata "Mary Magdalene" by J. Massenet, "this "heartfelt music", "in which Massenet managed to express the infinite goodness of Jesus in sounds": "Today I have been running around with this duet all day and under the impression he was written by a romance based on Tolstoy's words: "The soul quietly flew through the heavens" (Op. 47, No. 2, 1880), in which the melody turns out to be inspired by Massenet" ^{[18, p. 57]}. Most likely, we are talking about the general impression of the goodness of the music of the Massenet duet, but not about its melodic material, since there are no signs of intonational similarity between the melody of the J. Massenet duet and the P. Tchaikovsky romance. In this duet, the extremely flexible and malleable part of Mary attracts attention, almost immediately obeying the melodic material of the part of Jesus: Mary's vocal line, following the vocal theme of Jesus, gradually but invariably rises to the top notes of the singing range and in the final bars the pathos of praising the light of heaven becomes almost frenzied. This is a kind of religious ecstasy (it is noteworthy that to the spiritual idea of this duet Zh. Massenet, in an expanded version, later turned again in the duet of Thais and Athanael in the opera "Thais"). P. Tchaikovsky's romance begins with the image of the soul's stay in the mountain peaks of the universe, it is dispassionate and therefore benevolent. But the finale of the romance is almost as ecstatic as Massenet's: the soul languishes and rushes to earth, it is ready to suffer and grieve again for the sake of consoling those suffering on sinful earth.

The vocal part of P. Tchaikovsky's romance "The soul quietly flew through the heavens" is written in full accordance with the rules of the French chamber vocal culture: vocal phrases correspond to poetic lines, there are no decorations, each note is equal to a syllable; the vocal melody occupies an average tessitura, convenient for pronouncing a poetic text. It is noteworthy that the genius of P. Tchaikovsky allowed him, on the basis of very lengthy, with many syllables, lines of A. Tolstoy's poem, to create flawlessly integral, naturally flowing musical phrases that do not destroy poetic charm, and in no way give the impression of tedious ponderous long notes:

"The soul quietly flew through the heavens,

Sad down she lowered her eyelashes;

Tears fell into space from them like stars,

A bright and long string hanging behind her..." ^{[15, p.166]}

Therefore, the vocal part is presented by the composer in a melodious-declamatory type of melodism, in which the character of the meaningful message of the verse and its formal component (the length of the poetic line) are most adequately embodied. Due to the fact that vocal thematism in the work occupies a more significant place in comparison with the poetic text, the composer allows the repetition of individual words and phrases. So, in the saddest part of the narrative ("I left a lot of suffering and grief there") ^{[21, p.97]} the author allows us to emphasize this bitter thought by repeating the text and the corresponding dynamics: crescendo, forte. The second culmination in the nuance of fortissimo, embracing the high notes of the range, against the background of a powerful chord course expresses the main thing: the desire of a righteous soul for a feat on earth [Ibid., pp.95-99].

This Tchaikovsky romance is not a stylization, i.e. a conscious imitation, providing for the introduction of certain pronounced typical features and indicative expressive means characteristic of a particular style; however, it is filled with the authentic spirit of French lyrical romance, its poetics and looks to a certain extent a reflection of the style of French lyrical romance, a kind of allusion.

If we do not talk about the direct impact of the French theme on the melody of some romance, then we can observe signs of a well-known imitation in some romances – the French allusions of P. Tchaikovsky in terms of the presence of grace, elegance, grace, emphasized attention to the poetic text. Thus, the cycle of poems by K. Romanov (1887) ends with one of the most repertory romances by P. Tchaikovsky – the Serenade "Oh, child" – soft, gentle, affectionate, melodious, evening. This magical serenade-lullaby is extremely reminiscent of "Serenade. Berceuse" ("Serenade.  Lullaby song", words by V.Hugo) by S. Gounod, especially with the rhythm of piano accompaniment (6/8) ^{[3, pp.13-18]}. Flying, soaring singing vocal phrases sound against the background of imitation of guitar accompaniment, which practically has no independent meaning. And the romance "Blue Eyes of Spring" based on the poems of M. Mikhailov is filled with unusually bright, spring, gentle shades of mood. The melodious phrases of the vocal part, located in the middle tessitura, rather resemble a sung poem: the melody in this romance mainly consists of short, almost recitative phrases, or even represents a recitation on one note ("I tear flowers and dream", "Nightingales sing in the grove" "And my thoughts and dreams"). In other cases, the melody captures a range of no more than a third ("The blue eyes of spring look meekly out of the grass", "They sing loudly everything that melts in my heart"). Perhaps, the piano part carries a much greater artistic and semantic load here. The sixteen-act piano framing of the romance, four-act interludes and elegant motifs with undertones that shade the vocal recitation are practically listened to as an instrumental piece of a playful nature accompanied by a voice that only partially explains what is happening ^{[20, pp.85-89]}.

In the romance "Wait!" to the poems of N. Grekov, the melody of the piano intro is further transferred to the vocal part. In the middle part of the romance, in the left-hand part, the gently swaying, paired chords are like a lulling lullaby, and the elegant small passages in the right-hand part literally create the feeling of a high, swaying "dome of heaven" studded with stars. And in this romance, where in the words "And what silence everywhere" there is a stop of the vocal melody, and in the romance "Take my heart away" in the words "Higher, higher I float in a silvery way, like a shaky shadow behind a wing", the voice seems to give way to the music concentrated in the piano part – it is entrusted to her to finish telling what words cannot express [Ibid., pp.51-54].

All French allusionsP. Tchaikovsky's works are created in bright colors, and even the obviously sad moments are not shaded in any way, either harmonically, melodically, or dynamically. In the romance "Wait!" the final words of the work "Life flies" carry, it would seem, a farewell, regret on the verge of despair – but they are pronounced against the background of silent accompaniment, in silence, almost in a whisper (in a pianissimo nuance), with a barely ascending melodic line. And this quiet statement of the movement of time does not affect the general emotional impression of quiet joy and even the intoxicating night (also quiet) delight contained in the middle section of the romance ("But will we wait for such a night?...") [Ibid., pp.52-53].

Joyful serenades, serenade-lullaby to the words of K. Romanov ("Oh, child"), sad "Deception" ("Disappointment", words by P. Collin) and "Les larmes" ("Tears", words by A. Blanchcote) from the vocal cycle to poems by French poets Op. 65, romances to poems by A. Feta ("Take my heart Away", "Don't leave me"), elegant revelations on the poems of N. Grekov ("We won't walk for long", "No, I'll never call you" – from A. Musset), charming "Blue Eyes of Spring" on the words of M. Mikhailov (from G. Heine) and "Evening" to the poems of L. May, elegant "Don't leave me", "I won't tell you anything" to the words of A. Fet – they are all written within the middle register of the singing voice with the expectation of graceful performance without affectation, within the framework of aristocratic restraint dictated by a sense of proportion and nobility.

P. Tchaikovsky's lyrical romances, full of elegant, warm and trembling feelings, at the same time contain very noticeable signs of operatic vocal compositions. In particular, there is a fairly wide use of bright forte nuance in the climactic episodes, as well as rather lengthy crescendos (in comparison, for example, with the French stylizations of A. Dargomyzhsky and Ts. Kui) demanded from the singers a more skilful command of breathing, a legato stroke for high-quality performance of phrases written in the melodic-declamatory type of melodism, and longer vocal lines, which was a prerequisite for a harmonious combination of chamber and opera idioms of vocal performance and set new tasks for the singers. P. Tchaikovsky never devoted his romances to amateurs, having in view of the performance of their compositions only by opera singers. Creating his romances, he flexibly combined the requirements of singers accustomed to cantilevered vocalization, complementing and enriching them with his view of the artistic content of chamber vocal compositions.

The activation and saturation of opera scores in the middle of the XIX century with significantly expanded artistic material could not but affect the activation of the piano part in romances, which we notice in such romances as "Pastel" ("Pastel", words by F. Gilles) and "Reve de la bien-aimee" ("Dream of the Beloved") by J. Bizet.  "Le coucher du soleil" ("Sunset. Dreams". Words by T. Gounet, by T. Moore) and "Absence" ("Separation") by G. Berlioz. This important fact of the activation of the orchestral part in operas and the piano part in romances is noted in the music of P. Tchaikovsky.

The refraction of a new lyrical trend in French music, which appeared in the middle of the XIX century, in the chamber vocal work of P. Tchaikovsky, naturally, is most noticeable in his Six romances Op.65 on poems by French poets. In the romances of this cycle, dedicated to the opera singer Desiree Artaud and composed at her request during the period when the artist was already completing her opera career, P. Tchaikovsky surprisingly subtly managed to achieve a simultaneous combination of the features of lyrical chamber romance and opera arioso. In all romances, the principle of a harmonious combination of musical and poetic is strictly maintained: the vocal part is set out everywhere mainly in the middle register of the voice, without extreme upper notes, virtuoso passages and ornaments; each syllable is equal to a note. The very nature of the melodious-declamatory type of melodism used by the composer in romances contains both rather soft, although small in duration, cantilevered episodes, where the use of the main singing touch legato, familiar to opera singers, is required in the romances "Deception" ("Disappointment", the words of P. Collin) and "Les larmes" ("Tears", the words of A.Blanchcote), and quite vivid, although small in extent, emotional outbursts that require appropriate dynamics (forte, fortissimo).

Usually, in romances Op.65, small increases in sound lead to episodes containing the author's instructions forte and fortissimo, which occupy literally several notes in the melody, as, for example, in the romance "Deception" ("Disappointment"). Here, the forte nuance in tt.38-40 appears on a stopped melody-recitation, set out on one note of the middle register; the second forte accompanies an emotional outburst of the word "J'appelle!" (in the Russian text by A. Gorchakova, "I call!"), located on three notes ^{[22, p.69]}. A similar technique, when the bright dynamics is placed on two or three notes in the middle part of the range, is observed in the serenade "J'aime dans le rayon" to the words of P. Collin ("In the bright light of dawn") (tt.22-23) [Ibid., p. 72]. In the serenades "Qu vas tu, souffl? d'aurore" to the words of E.Turketti ("Where are you flying like a bird") and "In the bright light of dawn", as well as in the romance "Qu'importe que l'hiver" to the words of P. Collen ("Let winter") dynamically sonorous notes are located on the first few notes of the descending melody and are only a passing nuance, more often designed to shade the key words in a phrase that was typical of French romances of the late XVIII – early XIX centuries and Russian stylizations of A. Dargomyzhsky and Ts. Cui ^[13]. In general, we can note the brevity of the culminating dynamic ups, they are short-lived and, as it were, passing. The general impression left by the dynamics in P. Tchaikovsky's French romances is a soft sound, which is extremely rarely interrupted by individual exclamations or highlighting the beginning of a descending melodic line for the expressive utterance of the main word in the phrase.

A significant increase in the artistic significance of the piano part leads to a more intense relationship between the vocal and piano parts. Thus, two romances: "Les larmes" ("Tears") and "Deception" ("Disappointment") are created according to the type of ariose romances, in which the mobile piano part is often actively included in the dialogue with the vocal part. The chordal tread in the romance "Les larmes" ("Tears") echoes a similar tread in the romance of C. Saint-Saens "Tristesse" ("Sadness", words by F.Lemierre), similar in artistic content.

In the Serenade "Qu vas tu, souffl? d'aurore" ("Where are you flying like a bird"), the vocal part is also accompanied by imitation guitar chords. The piano intro, built on the theme of a vocal melody and set out in a staccato stroke, sets up rather the image of an energetic morning serenade. The vocal melody is visually presented in long phrases, but performance practice offers a solution rather close to the performance of French vocal music: shorter phrases corresponding to poetic phrases. The somewhat "bouncing" character of the melody of the piano part, outlined by the staccato stroke, constantly "interferes" with the vocal narrative and significantly diversifies its flow ^{[22, pp.64-67]}.

In the serenade-recognition "J'aime dans le rayon" ("In the bright light of dawn") short, somewhat standing melodic lines (recitation, characteristic of the melody of the French language) are completed each time with an elegant flute "curl". It is the insistent ascending movements of the piano part that introduce the episode designated by the composer by the acceleration of the tempo (Piu mosso) and complete it [Ibid., pp. 71-75].

A similar role is played by the piano part in the romance "Rondel" ("Charmer"), "the graceful music of which, according to G. Laroche, fits as closely to the words as the words perfectly characterize the artist to whom the romances are dedicated. The French poet, the critic argues, did not think about Madame Artaud when he wrote these poems, but it turned out that they perfectly convey the elusive charm that was present in every note, in every movement of the brilliant artist. Did something similar happen to the composer? In his thoughts, elegant French poems painted the image of the singer to whom he dedicated his work" ^{[6, pp.135-136]}.

In general, the romances of Op.56 by P. Tchaikovsky at a new stage develop a line of French romances performed by music lovers for the pleasure of the public who knows and understands the subtleties of the French language and French chamber vocal music, considered in the article devoted to the analysis of the influence of French vocal culture on the formation of Russian romance ^[13].

The new requirements imposed by P. Tchaikovsky to the performers of lyrical scenes - the opera "Eugene Onegin" were considered in detail in an article devoted to the analysis of the transformation of performing approaches to the image of Lensky during the XIX century ^[14]. Let's focus on some of them that are of interest in the light of our problem. P. Tchaikovsky admires the performing art of E. Kadmina, who "has a rare ability in modern singers and singers to modulate the voice, to give it, depending on the inner meaning of the performed, this or that tone, this or that expression, and she uses this ability with artistic flair, which is the most precious attribute of her sympathetic talent" ^{[19, C.155]}. The critic notes in Kadmina's performance "elegant simplicity, sincerity" and "great expressiveness" [Ibid., p. 85].

P. Tchaikovsky particularly noted the work of the outstanding Russian singer E. Lavrovskaya, in whose performance he particularly noted the natural ability to fine, deeply felt, sometimes stunning artistry in phrasing brought to a high degree of perfection" [Ibid., pp.220-221].

If we summarize the expressive means especially appreciated by P. Tchaikovsky, then (in addition to the generally recognized qualities of opera singers – the beauty and strength of the voice, full range), the main ones now seem to be those that were previously considered mandatory for chamber performers, such as: the ability to modulate the voice, giving it the right shades, depending on the artistic content; subtle nuance; deliberate and elegant phrasing; warmth; passionate expressiveness; refined sense of proportion; strict, chaste artistry.

The fulfillment of these requirements has brought opera singers much closer to chamber art. The deep and subtle verses underlying the romances forced the singers not just to consider diction as a means of clearly conveying the text, but to strive for a word colored by timbre, which also entails deliberate phrasing, including flexible metro-rhythmics. The saturation of the piano part with a significant artistic idea, expressive melodic undertones and picturesqueness predetermined a more complex nature of the relationship between the soloist and the accompanist: let's not forget that during this period of time outstanding pianists appeared on the domestic concert stage: A. Rubinstein, N. Rubinstein, M. Balakirev, M. Mussorgsky, F. Blumenfeld, S. Taneev occasionally performed in this capacity. and S. Rachmaninoff, who raised the art of accompaniment to unprecedented heights. It is this period that can be characterized as the initial period of the formation of a new profession – a domestic opera and concert singer.

Outstanding Russian opera singers, the first performers of new music, who preserved in their basic parameters the elegance and grace of French romance, the convenience of the vocal part in the name of expressive utterance of poetic text, the absence of virtuoso passages and fioritura, bringing vocal expressiveness to the fore, became the first interpreters who opened the way for a whole galaxy of subsequent performers, equally masterfully performing elegant romances, imbued with the French spirit. First of all, they were artists who were sensitive to the lyrical line of the new opera compositions by French composers S. Gounod, L. Delibes J. Massenet, C. Saint-Saens, and the music of the lyrical heroes of Russian operas. Thus, I. Tartakov, the owner of a soft lyrical baritone, one of the best performers of the roles of Valentine ("Faust" by S. Gounod), Mercutio ("Romeo and Juliet" by S. Gounod), was also considered one of the most subtle interpreters of P. Tchaikovsky's lyrical romances, including "Deception" ("Disappointment"), which he (along with other compositions) often performed in the presence of the author. The owner of the "beautiful voice of warm timbre and wide range" by A. Bolskaya (Skompskaya), one of the best performers of the roles of the main characters in the operas of Sh.Gounod's "Faust" (Margarita) and "Romeo and Juliet" (Juliet) "were characterized by grace, a mood of poetic reverie" ^{[11, p.63]}. Possessing such artistic qualities, A. Bolska was also a magnificent chamber singer, subtly interpreting the romances of S. Gounod, J. Massenet, K. Saint-Saens, A. Arensky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, C. Cui, but she was especially famous for performing the romances of P. Tchaikovsky.

Thanks to the opera and chamber music of contemporary composers, including, if not primarily, P. Tchaikovsky, M. Deisha-Sionitskaya, E. Lavrovskaya, E. Kadmina, M. Kamenskaya, E. Mravina, A. Panaeva and a number of other singers have enriched their artistic arsenal with the necessary expressive means and colors that have become in demand for the performance of French the lines of Russian romance, vividly represented in the works of P. Tchaikovsky.

Russian Russian singers such as N. Zabela-Vrubel, A. Nezhdanova, L. Sobinov, N. Obukhova, among them, also masterfully combined in their work the qualities necessary for the performance of opera parts and elegant, elegant, truly French in spirit lyrical romances of Russian composers of the XIX century.

Starting from the second half of the XIX and up to the beginning of the XX century, a rather difficult period came in the life of Russian lyrical romance. Neither in the open concerts of the Imperial Russian Musical Society (IRMO), nor in the concerts of the Free Music School (BMSH), nor in charity concerts held on large stages, "new French" romances could not make an impression and, of course, did not sound. As you can read in a special study by E.N. Paliy about the salon as a phenomenon of Russian culture of the XIX century, already in the middle of the XIX century, "the brilliant time of noble salons is irrevocably passing into the past" ^{[10, p.87]}. And, according to the researcher, "the representative of a new era was a raznochinets" [Ibid]. But chamber music works – heirs of French romances – and other subtle and exquisite miniatures of Russian composers of the second half of the XIX century could not sound in the literary circles of the raznochintsy. Russian Russian shubertiads appeared as a platform for their performance, only a niche occupied by new elite salons remained – there was an appearance of a kind of "Russian shubertiads": home concerts were arranged in the living rooms of composers, famous critics, a few lovers of Russian chamber vocal music – M. Balakirev, Ts. Kui or A. Dargomyzhsky ^{[12, pp.23-24, 35, 53, 73]} since 1878 – N. Rimsky-Korsakov [Ibid., p. 145]. But, as a rule, these were almost closed evenings, only for close friends, where selected pages of favorite compositions or novelties of European contemporary composers were played, and, of course, works by authors who would later go down in history as composers of the "Mighty Bunch". But the layer of elegant chamber vocal miniatures in these home concerts, of course, did not occupy much space, getting lost among fragments of new opera and symphonic scores, fashionable journalistic creations of M. Mussorgsky, vivid dramatic monologues and epic-scale masterpieces of A. Borodin and N. Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1895, A. Ossovsky stated with surprise and bitterness that, not to mention the symphony concerts of the IRMO, even in chamber evenings only string quartets sound: "Why such voluntary self-restraint, why such damage to the diversity and interest of programs? I am not talking about the complete absence of vocal chamber music, satisfactory performers of which, of course, exist in the capital, and if they were not, they would have been created" ^{[9, p.42]}. The author was absolutely right: the performers had to be "created" by performing a certain repertoire. But this repertoire had to find its listeners as well. The Moscow critic S. Kruglikov, analyzing the state of open Moscow concerts of the 90s of the XIX century, wrote that the concert program "is almost never updated and, in the vast majority of cases, is made up of numbers that repeat from year to year in direct dependence on what success they cause in the public" [Cit. by: 23, p.598]. Therefore, "whole masses of works, both very gifted and very remarkable in many ways, remain sleeping peacefully on the shelves of music stores just because they are gifted and wonderful… The audience does not know them, the artists do not know them either, and if they do, they are afraid to perform with them on the stage..." [Cit. by: Ibid.].

Indeed, there was only one way out: replacing the former noble salons with circles in which opera performers were brought up, studying an unusual repertoire for themselves. In Moscow, first of all, it is necessary to name the Circle of lovers of Russian music, organized in 1896 by the spouses A. and M. Kerzin. They put a lot of effort into offering elegant Russian romances for study and performance, which did not find a place in the open concerts of concert organizations active in Russia. Without delving into the analysis of the Circle's activities, we will list only the artists who most often performed in concerts. These are I. Gryzunov, M. Deisha-Sionitskaya, L. Donskoy, N. Zabela-Vrubel, E. Zbrueva, L. Zvyagina, O. Mshanskaya-Sokolova, L. Nikolaeva, M. Olenina-d'alheim, N. Raisky, A. Sekar-Rozhansky, L. Sobinov, N. Speransky, S. Trezvinsky, V. Tyutyunnik, M. Tsybushenko, A. Yan-Ruban.

Among Russian opera and concert singers, the outstanding singers A. Nejdanova and L. Sobinov carried out extensive activities to promote lyrical romances similar to the aesthetics of French chamber vocal compositions. V. Bogdanov-Berezovsky wrote about A. Nejdanova: "Infallible and deeply expressive bel canto and creatively alert, active attitude to the word, its meaning and meaning, and sometimes "subtext", and hence the perfection of diction – that is what is most characteristic of the best, truly great creators of the Russian vocal school, to which Nezhdanova also belonged" ^{[1, p.233]}. These qualities are the owners of a beautiful lyric-coloratura soprano, a wonderful performer of the roles of a number of heroines in operas by French composers, including Leila (L. Delibes "Pearl Seekers"), Michaela (J. Bizet "Carmen"), Juliet and Margarita ("Romeo and Juliet" and "Faust" by S. Gounod), Manon ("Manon" by J. Massenet), of course, helped the artist to get into the spirit of elegant lyrical romances. In the repertoire of A. Nejdanova there were many romances by French composers: J. Bizet, J.-B. Vekerlena, S. Gounod, L. Delibes, J. Massenet, whose adequate performance was helped by knowledge of the French language. Among the most frequently performed works by A. Nejdanova were P. Tchaikovsky's romances "The soul flew quietly through the heavens", "Wait!", the serenade "Where are you flying like a bird" from the cycle dedicated to D. Artaud, "Take my heart away", "I opened the window".

Analyzing the performance by A. Nejdanova and N. Golovanov of P. Tchaikovsky's romance "Take my Heart Away", S. Migai noted the moment of consolidation of dynamics. Both musicians air, flight romance, completely deprived him of even any hint of sadness, and the words "the smile of love shines meekly", as S. Migay recalls, the singer sang in the nuance of mezza forte. "The piano picked up this sound, continuing it, the melody sounded more vividly, and the forte of the next episode was prepared and natural, and the whole first episode began to sound like the joy of memory." And the end of the romance, return to the beginning “Take away my heart," was performed at the first tempo and sounded like a sigh of relief, calm; it seemed that memories awakened hopes for the future" [Ibid., p.444]. Even more independence in the reading of A. Nejdanova and N. Golovanov can be noted in the final part of the romance. The author's second culminating peak, marked by the forte nuance, is at the beginning of the section (vol. 53), on the words “and all above”, then immediately follows both a melodic and dynamic decline, and the beginning of the phrase “I am like a shaky shadow” is marked by the requirement of the piano nuance, which should be performed almost to the very end of the romance, since only the last chord of the piano postlude should be performed in the nuance of the mezza forte, and the approach to it on the crescendo takes only two bars, naturally, without any slowing down of the tempo. Only on the word "shadow" in measure 58 on the top note there is an indication of a tiny delay: ten., and the penultimate note of the soloist at the end of the same measure, set out in the middle register, is marked with a fermato sign. That is, the composer provided an exceptionally elegant conclusion to this magical romance, which is rapidly flying away like an unearthly vision of a poetic dream. However, as S. Migay testifies, "the singer ended the romance with a fermata on the word "shadow", while strengthening the note, and the words "behind the wing" sang only widely and strongly. The accompaniment picked up this mood, the melody soared rapidly upwards, increasing in sonority and ending at a rapid fort" [Ibid.]. Such an operatic interpretation, in our opinion, largely changing the author's idea and bringing a bright dynamics alien to this work, rare in beauty, tenderness and poetic charm, was enthusiastically accepted by the audience, not experienced in the aesthetics of salon performance, as a typical opera aria with a spectacular loud ending. As can be seen, with such an interpretation, the domestic musicians of the second half of the XIX century clearly introduced into the performance of the typically "French" Tchaikovsky romance not only some features of the opera style, but also consciously demonstrated the need for such an interpretation in the name of continuing the life of salon romance in a new concert environment.

In the Circle of Russian Music Lovers, L. Sobinov was the brightest figure, and it was largely thanks to his performances that listeners learned and learned to understand the beauty and depth of elegant lyrical creations that previously found their connoisseurs only in an aristocratic environment. Opera singer L. Sobinov recognized the great importance of studying and performing chamber vocal music for his formation as a musician, saying that "I owe my musical development exclusively to her," since "only Russian romances can develop a musical phrase. In them, the musical presentation and the text go hand in hand" ^{[7, p.25]}. According to V. Kolomiitsov, nature endowed the singer L. Sobinov, "indeed, although small in sound power and not at all "phenomenal", but a charming and surprisingly even tenor in all registers of a soft, charming timbre" ^{[4, p.151]}. And this allowed him to masterfully perform the lyrical romances of Russian composers, including P. Tchaikovsky.  Among the 23 Tchaikovsky romances contained in L. Sobinov's repertoire, such lyrical romances as "I won't tell you anything", "Wait!", "I opened the window", "Don't leave me" were especially popular among listeners performed by the singer.

The increase in the artistic significance of the piano part in the new lyrical romances has become one of the main factors in the education of ensemble feeling among singers who had previously become accustomed to the rather sedentary structure of orchestral accompaniment in metro-rhythmic terms, and soloists who are obliged to measure their artistic intentions with the vocal part, and piano accompanists who previously took for granted a simple "accompaniment" of the dominant vocal material. Concert performances by M. Deisha-Sionitskaya, N. Zabela-Vrubel, A. Nezhdanova, L. Sobinov, N. Obukhova and other remarkable Russian singers with such great pianists as S. Rachmaninov, F. Blumenfeld undoubtedly brought great benefits to both partners in terms of empathic co-creation and ensemble perfection.

Based on the method of holistic and comparative analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: P. Tchaikovsky's romances written in French, as well as romances created by the composer "in the French style", represent a completely new stage in the development of Russian romance - they were designed to be performed by opera singers. This process was common to Russia and France: French opera composers, authors of lyrical operas, actively created romances in which new expressive means were used, initially more characteristic of opera art. First of all, this moment was reflected in the vocal melody: in many romances, recitation gives way to chanting thematism, although it does not capture the extreme upper part of the range of the singing voice and does not use bright dynamic nuances.

French music had a certain influence on P. Tchaikovsky's compositional style. In the romances of Op.65 on the texts of French poets and in a number of lyrical romances of the great Russian composer, there is a certain similarity with some of the main features of chamber vocal works created by French composers – contemporaries of P. Tchaikovsky, in particular, the preservation of elegance and grace, the absence of bright dynamics, the concentration of vocal melody within the middle register, which was inherent in the aristocratic salon vocal lyrics of the beginning of the XIX century, which came from France.

 Attention to the pronunciation of the word and the activation of the piano part entailed the flexibility of the metro-rhythmic structure of the romance, which served as a certain incentive factor for expanding the artistic palette of opera singers, counting on the vocal capabilities of which these lyrical works were created, containing certain similarities with opera arias. Outstanding Russian opera singers, who had a penchant for creating stylistically verified images of the heroes of lyrical operas by French composers, also became the first performers of P. Tchaikovsky's romances, which have common features with French chamber lyrics of the mid-XIX century.

It is especially important for today's young performers and students of musical educational institutions to know the genesis of P. Tchaikovsky's lyrical romances in order to find a historically accurate and stylistically correct approach to the chosen musical material within the framework of preserving and multiplying the cultural heritage of Russia.