Khovanshchina

Unfinished opera by Modest Mussorgsky (libretto by the composer and V V Stassov), first produced as completed and scored by Rimsky-Korsakov after Mussorgsky's death, in St Petersburg, Russia, on 21 February 1886. Shostakovich also added to Rimsky-Korsakov's work. The plot is based on historical events surrounding the opponents of Tsar Peter the Great: Prince Khovansky, head of the militia, the regent Sofia as represented by the actions of Prince Golitsin, the ‘Old Believers’ as personified by Marfa. All come to an unhappy end.