About the work
Ruslan and Lyudmila is Mikhail Glinka's second opera, based on Alexander Pushkin's 1820 narrative poem of the same name; Pushkin had intended to write the libretto himself but died in a duel before completing it, so Valerian Shirkov and other writers finished the text. It premiered on 9 December 1842 at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
Plot
On her wedding day, the bride Lyudmila is abducted by the sinister sorcerer Chernomor. Her betrothed Ruslan sets out on a perilous quest through the realm of Kievan Rus, overcoming rival suitors and various trials with the help of the good wizard Finn, before defeating Chernomor and freeing Lyudmila.
Cultural significance
Together with A Life for the Tsar, the opera is considered a cornerstone of Russian national opera; it was among the first works to use the whole-tone scale and, with its fantastical magic scenes, influenced later composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov.