The opinions of the Press on the new work were very similar. No one “praised it to the skies,” but no one damned it. All expressed more or less esteem for the composer, but none were quite contented with his work. _To S. I. Taneiev._ “MOSCOW, _December_ 2_nd_ (14_th_), 1876. “ ... I have just heard that my _Romeo_ was hissed in Vienna. Do not say anything about it, or Pasdeloup may take fright; I hear he thinks of doing it. “Yes, indeed, dear friend, there are trying times in life! “_Francesca_ has long been finished, and will now be copied out.” Hans Richter, who conducted the Vienna performance of _Romeo_, declared that the comparative failure of the work did not amount to a fiasco. Certainly at the concert itself a few hisses were heard, and Hanslick wrote an abusive criticism of it in the _Neue Freie Presse_, but at the same time much interest, even enthusiasm, was shown for the new Russian work. Hardly had Tchaikovsky swallowed the bitter Viennese pill, than he received equally disagreeable news from Taneiev in Paris. _Taneiev to Tchaikovsky._ “PARIS, _November_ 28_th_ (_December_ 10_th_), 1876. “I have just come from Pasdeloup’s concert, where your _Romeo_ overture was shamefully bungled. The tempi were all too fast, so that one could scarcely distinguish the three notes [Illustration: musical notation] one from the other. The second subject was played by the wind as if they had only to support the harmony, and did not realise they had the subject. “The following was especially bad:-- [Illustration: musical notation] not a single crescendo, not a single diminuendo. At the repetition of the accessory theme in D major [Illustration: musical notation] the bassoons played their fifth in the bass so energetically that they drowned the other parts. There were no absolutely false notes, but the piece produced a poor effect. Pasdeloup obviously understood nothing about it, and does not know how such a piece should be played. No wonder the Overture did not please the public and was but coolly received. It was as painful to me as if I had been taking part in the concert myself. Pasdeloup alone, however, was to blame, not the public. The Overture is by no means incomprehensible; it only needs to be well interpreted. “I played your concerto to Saint-Saëns; everyone was much pleased with it. All musicians here are greatly interested in your compositions.” _To S. Taneiev._ “MOSCOW, _December_ 5_th_ (17_th_), 1876.