Alexander Dargomyzhsky (1813-69) wrote The Stone Guest at the very end of his life, as he lay dying. He left strict instructions that the unfinished work be completed by Cesar Cui and orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Based on Pushkin’s version of the Don Juan story (Mozart’s Don Giovanni is the most famous setting of the story), Dargomyzhsky had to be coerced into composing this opera by Borodin, Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky and Mussorgsky. He was deeply hurt by the failure of his earlier operas Rusalka and Esmerelda, and had given up writing for the stage.

The Stone Guest has exerted a considerable influence over Russian music and opera, particularly due to the innovative use of melodic recitative. In this work Dargomyzhsky’s use of this new technique succeeded and lay the foundation stone for many of the Russian operas that followed. He is a minor composer but an influential figure in the development of the Russian nationalist musical style in the period between Glinka and ‘The Five’.

Cast:
- Don Juan: Nikolai Vassiliev
- Leporello: Vyacheslav Pochapsky
- Laura: Tatyana Erastova
- Donna Anna: Marina Lapina
- Don Carlos: Nikolai Reshetnyak
- The Monk: Boris Bezhko
- The Commander: Nikolai Nizienko
- First Guest: Alexander Arkhipov
- Second Guest: Piotr Gluboky
- Two Other Guests: Mikhail Agafonov, Vladislav Pashinsky