Glinka's second opera, Ruslan and Lyudmila, had a rather long and troubled gestation, also caused by some difficulties that arose in drafting the libretto, in which as many as five people participated. The subject, suggested by the director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, who had staged the opera A Life for the Tsar to great acclaim in 1836 , was based on the epic poem of the same name by Alexander Pushkin, who was unable to work on the libretto due to his premature death on February 10, 1837, following complications from an abdominal wound suffered in a duel. The opera's writing was therefore rather long and troubled, occupying a full five years, from 1837 to 1842, of the composer's life. However, at its premiere, which took place on December 9, 1842, it failed to achieve the same success as his previous opera. Now one of the most popular operas in Russia, Ruslan and Lyudmila , whose plot revolves around the knight Ruslan who, after overcoming several trials, manages to free his fiancée, Princess Lyudmila, previously kidnapped by a sorcerer, draws its musical material from Russian, Finnish, Tatar, and Persian folk repertoire. Extremely concise and far removed from Italianate patterns, the overture , in sonata form, is based on two themes, the first of which, joyful and thunderous, is, as the composer himself testified, most likely inspired by a strange noise made by cutlery during a wedding dinner: “I was outside on the balcony, and the clatter of knives, forks, and plates made such an impression on me that I had the idea of ​​imitating them in the prelude to Ruslan. I later did so with extraordinary success.”

Vardan Mamikonian

Events

Past events

10 - 11 Apr, 2026

Glinka/Babadžanjan /Chačaturjan · Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana

Future and recently performed repertoire

Piano in Heroic Ballad by Babadjanian

Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana

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