THE B.B.C. ORCHESTRA
(Section D)
Led by F. WEIST HiLL
Conducted by EDWARD CLARK
ONIEGUROTSCHKA, the little Snow Maiden, was doomed to die as soon as the first shaft of Spring sunlight touched her icy heart and cruel Fate decreed that the fatal ray smote her just as she was about to be united to her mortal lover, Mizgyr. He takes his own life in despair, and the opera ends with a chant to the Sun. The libretto, based on a Russian folk-tale, is by Ostrovsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov's music is as vividly Russian as anything lie gave us.
It was first produced at St. Petersburg in 1882. There are some enchanting melodii in the score, as several separate numbers have long ago made clear to audiences everywhere ; one or two pieces from the opera appear constantly in programmes, and this suite includes all those that are best known.