Relayed from
The Granada, Walthamstow
Glinka was the father of modern Russian music, and this opera, his second, was one of the first big works of a really national character which the composer produced. The tale is founded on an early poetical romance by Pushkin.
It is a blend of fairy lore and old Russian legend. Ludmilla, the daughter of a Grand Duke, has three suitors, of whom she prefers the Knight Russian.
She is carried off by magic powers, and the whole story is taken up with Russian's heroic conflict with these and his overcoming of one dread magic spell after another to win his bride in the end.