Taras Bulba (opera)

Taras Bulba
Opera by Mykola Lysenko
Russian stamp depicting the title hero and its creator Nikolai Gogol (left)
Librettist	Mykhailo Starytsky
Language	Ukrainian
Based on	Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol
Premiere	1955 (1955) (present-day version) Kiev Opera House

Taras Bulba is an opera in four acts by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko. The libretto was written for Lysenko by his cousin, the playwright Mykhailo Starytsky, and is based on the novella Taras Bulba, written by the Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol, himself of Ukrainian origin. The story is about a Cossack who discovers his son has betrayed his people, and kills him.^[1]

The opera, which was left unrevised and unperformed at the time of the composer's death in 1912, was first produced in 1924. Present-day performances are based on revised versions of the opera made during the 1930s and 1950s.