Title page, piano/vocal score, La Nuit de Noel, 1895
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsadov (Russian 1844-1908) began composing this four-act opera in 1894, and it premiered a year later in St Petersburg. Based on a story by Gogol, it features the magical, fantastic and exotic elements characteristic of Russian ballet. Although this score was published in Germany, its cover page is in Russian and the interior is multilingual.