About the work
Opera in four acts (six scenes) by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to a libretto by Vladimir Belsky combining the legends of Saint Fevroniya of Murom and of the city of Kitezh, made invisible before the Tatars. Composed by 1905, it was first performed on 7 February 1907 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg – Rimsky-Korsakov's last opera premiered in his lifetime.
Plot
The nature-loving Fevroniya falls in love in the forest with Prince Vsevolod of Kitezh. The drunkard Grishka betrays the city to the invading Tatars; at the last moment a miracle answers Fevroniya's prayer, and Kitezh becomes invisible, surviving only as a reflection in the lake. The bewildered Tatars withdraw, and Fevroniya is reunited with the dead in the transfigured city.
Cultural significance
In the specialist press the opera is sometimes described as a 'Russian Parsifal' for its blend of nature mysticism, church chant and themes of redemption, and has been read as an apotheosis of Christian Russia a decade before its collapse. After a year and a half of intensive rehearsal, the premiere was an outstanding success; during the Soviet era the work was often performed in cut versions.