Originally, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Christmas Eve" was held up by the censors, because among the dramatis personae there was a tsaritsa (in Gogol's tale, Catherine II), and at that time members of the House of Romanov were forbidden to appear on the oper

Originally, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Christmas Eve" was held up by the censors, because among the dramatis personae there was a tsaritsa (in Gogol's tale, Catherine II), and at that time members of the House of Romanov were forbidden to appear on the operatic stage. The composer was obliged to replace the tsaritsa with the Most Serene Prince, and to transpose her part, written for mezzo-soprano, for baritone. At the premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov stayed away in protest.

Gogol's tale contains several allusions to religious themes. For example, Vakula compels the devil to fly him to Saint Petersburg, which recalls Saint John of Novgorod, who made the devil carry him to Jerusalem, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Rimsky-Korsakov long nursed the idea of writing an opera based on Gogol's tale. However, the subject had already been used in Tchaikovsky's opera "Cherevichki". Only after the death of Pyotr Ilyich did Rimsky-Korsakov resolve to bring his idea to life.

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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Originally, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Christmas Eve" was held up by the censors, because among the dramatis personae there was a tsaritsa (in Gogol's tale, Catherine II), and at that time members of the House of Romanov were forbidden to appear on the oper

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s