Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) was a prolific composer of orchestral works and many other forms of music, including chamber works and art songs. He also wrote many operas, excerpts from which are featured in this collection.
Contents include the famous orchestral interlude "The Flight of the Bumblebee" as well as the suite from "The Tale of Tsar Saltan." This fanciful opera was based on Aleksandr Pushkin's poem, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan." Additional selections include the suite from another work inspired by Pushkin's poetry, " The Golden Cockerel," a controversial satire of the disastrous effects of the tsarist regime. Nikolai Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka" served as the basis for" Christmas Eve," a tale of magical doings on Christmas Eve. The final suite is from "Dubinushka," Op. 62, a work rooted in a song the composer overheard protesters singing during the 1905 revolution. Musicians and music lovers will appreciate this inexpensive collection of popular works, all reproduced from authoritative sources.

Marc Albrecht conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in this 2012 production of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera. Svetlana Ignatovich stars as Fevroniya, a young peasant who prays that the city of Kitezh will become invisible so that it will be saved from the invading Tatars. Though her wish is granted, Svetlana is taken by the enemy. The rest of the cast includes John Daszak, Vladimir Vaneev and Maxim Aksenov.

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons leads the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5, featuring renowned pianist Yefim Bronfman. Recorded live at the Lucerne Festival in 2011, the programme also features Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Scheherazade', Chopin's Etude in F Major and Dvorák's Slavonic Dance in A Flat Major.

Valery Gergiev conducts the Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus in this performance of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera, directed by Anna Matison. The cast includes Vladimir Feliauer as King Dodon, Andrei Ilyushnikov as Vladislav Sulimsky, Aida Garifullina as the Queen of Shemakha and Andrei Popov as the Astrologer.