About the work
Comic opera in three acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his second opera, after Nikolai Gogol's tale 'May Night, or the Drowned Maiden' from the first part (1831) of Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka. The idea came to the composer in 1872 while reading the story together with his future wife, Nadezhda Purgold; the opera was composed in 1878–79, and the premiere took place on 21 January 1880 (9 January O.S.) at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.
Plot
The young Cossack Levko wants to marry the peasant girl Hanna, but his own father, the village head, also pursues her and refuses his consent. One summer night, Levko helps the mermaid Pannochka unmask a witch among the water-spirits of a derelict manor; in gratitude, she secures him a letter that allows the marriage to proceed.
Cultural significance
May Night is unique among Rimsky-Korsakov's operas in centring on a tenor rather than a female lead. With its round dance of mermaids, the composer introduced the ethereal female nature-spirits that would recur in later heroines such as the Snow Maiden.