About the work
Mazeppa is an opera in three acts by Pyotr Tchaikovsky after Alexander Pushkin's narrative poem “Poltava.” The libretto was written by Viktor Burenin; dissatisfied with his draft, Tchaikovsky himself restored more of Pushkin's original verse. It premiered on 15 February 1884, almost simultaneously at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow and, three days later, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.
Plot
The Ukrainian hetman Mazeppa marries young Maria against the wishes of her father Kochubey, who then plots revenge against him. Mazeppa has the conspiracy betrayed and Kochubey executed; in the final act he loses the battle against the Tsar, while the now-mad Maria sings a lullaby over the body of her former suitor Andrei, no longer recognising him.
Cultural significance
Tchaikovsky described writing the opera in a letter as the hardest task of his career so far. Staging the premiere almost simultaneously in two capitals was unusual for a Russian opera house of the period and reflects the anticipation the work already enjoyed before opening night.