DESCRIPTION:
Excerpts from my first opera, written in 2004. This is the version for two pianos, not full orchestra. The text is by Pushkin and sung in Russian. The role of Natasha is sung by the amazing Aida Ippolitova. The video contains clips from the dress rehearsal and the first performance at the Academic Opera Theatre Nishnij Novgorod.

The story (thanks to Crissy):
Natasha was gone for three days and no one knew where she was and when she came back she was too distressed to speak. Then later a young man rides by while she and her sisters are sitting on a fence. Natasha runs home because she recognized him, but yet again she does not tell her parents. The next day the matchmaker of the town said that the young man wants Natasha to marry him, and her father consents. Natasha goes into a fit of hysterics, but finally controls herself and agrees to the marriage. at the wedding feast, the groom notices that Natasha is not enjoying the feast and not talking, and he asks her why. she tells him that she had a dream, and then proceeds to explain to him the contents of the dream. She was wandering through the woods when she sees a house. she knocks at the door, but there is no answer, so she lets herself in. The house is filled with all kinds of treasures and jewels. She hears horses and people approaching so she hides behind the stove. A group of men enter, bringing with them a girl, who is obviously the new bride of one of them. They have a grand feast, but the girl sits silently. Finally, the oldest of the brothers kills the girl and cuts off her right hand. at this point in Natasha's story, the groom stops her and says the story is ridiculous. Natasha then asks him from who's hand did the ring on her own finger come. this implies that the dream was not really a dream, and that this is where Natasha was when she was missing those three days. The groom was there, and he was the one who killed the girl. The groom is speechless and the guests at the wedding realize what Natasha is saying. They seize the groom and condemn him to death. Natasha is a hero. The great thing about this story is how it is completely ambiguous. One doesn't know who speaks the truth and who lies. Everybody just assumes ... even when it is about a decision on life and death.