An operatic double bill, featuring two rarely-performed works of the Russian repertoire, performed by leading stars of the Bolshoi Opera. Rimsky-Korsakov held Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest in high esteem, admiring especially his setting of recitative; after Dargomyzhsky’s death, it was Rimsky-Korsakov who completed the orchestration of the opera. Rimsky-Korsakov's own opera Mozart and Salieri is a brilliant exploration of the rivalry between those two composers which later provided the inspiration for Peter Shaffer’s play “Amadeus.” The texts for both operas are taken almost verbatim from works of Alexander Pushkin, without an intervening librettist.

Sung in Russian, with optional subtitles in English, French, and Russian.

Color, 132 minutes, 4:3, All regions

Artists

Alexei Maslennikov (Mozart), Artur Eizen (Salieri), L. Novikov (Violinist), Vladimir Atlantov (Don Juan), Tamara Milashkina (Donna Anna), Alexander Vedernikov (Leporello), Tamara Sinyavskaya (Laura), Vladimir Valaitis (Don Carlos), Vladimir Filippov (A Monk/Statue of the Commander), Andrei Sokolov, Petr Glubokiy (Laura's Guests)

Orchestra and Chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre, Ruben Vartanian