Early in the 'seventies Tchaikovsky came under the ascendency of Balakirev, Stassov, and other representatives of the ultra-national and modern school. _Cherevichek_, like the Second Symphony--which is also Malo-Russian in colouring--and the symphonic poems "Romeo and Juliet" (1870), "The Tempest" (1874), and "Francesca di Rimini" (1876), may be regarded as the outcome of this phase of influence. The originality and captivating local colour, as well as the really poetical lyrics with which the book of this opera is interspersed, no doubt commended it to Tchaikovsky's fancy. Polonsky's libretto is a mere series of episodes, treated however with such art that he has managed to preserve the spirit of Gogol's text in the form of his polished verses. In _Cherevichek_ Tchaikovsky makes a palpable effort to break away from conventional Italian forms and to write more in the style of Dargomijsky. But, as Stassov has pointed out, this more modern and realistic style is not so well suited to Tchaikovsky, because he is not at his strongest in declamation and recitative. Nor was he quite in sympathy with Gogol's racy humour which bubbles up under the veneer of Polonsky's elegant manner. Tchaikovsky was not devoid of a certain subdued and whimsical humour, but his laugh is not the boisterous reaction from despair which we find in so many Slav temperaments. _Cherevichek_ fell as it were between two stools. The young Russian party, who had partially inspired it, considered it lacking in realism and modern feeling; while the public, who hoped for something lively, in the style of "Le Domino Noir," found an attempt at serious national opera the thing which, above all others, bored them most. The want of marked success in opera did not discourage Tchaikovsky. Shortly after his disappointment in _Cherevichek_ he requested Stassov to furnish him with a libretto based on Shakespeare's "Othello." Stassov was slow to comply with this demand, for he believed the subject to be ill-suited to Tchaikovsky's genius. At last, however, he yielded to pressure; but the composer's enthusiasm cooled of its own accord, and he soon abandoned the idea. During the winter of 1876-1877, he was absorbed in the composition of the Fourth Symphony, which may partially account for the fact that "Othello" ceased to interest him. By May he had completed three movements of the Symphony, when suddenly the tide of operatic passion came surging back, sweeping everything before it. Friend after friend was consulted in the search for a suitable subject. The celebrated singer Madame Lavrovsky suggested Poushkin's popular novel in verse, "Eugene Oniegin." "The idea," says Tchaikovsky, "struck me as curious. Afterwards, while eating a solitary meal in a restaurant, I turned it over in my mind and it did not seem bad. Reading the poem again, I was fascinated. I spent a sleepless night, the result of which was the _mise en scène_ of a charming opera upon Poushkin's poem."