Although Rimsky-Korsakov had apparently abandoned the original operatic theories of the new school, Dargomijsky's methods must still have exercised some attraction for him, for in 1897 he set Poushkin's dramatic duologue _Mozart and Salieri_ without making the least change in the text, and dedicated it to the memory of the composer of _The Stone Guest_. Its production by the Private Opera Company at Moscow, in 1898, was memorable for a wonderful interpretation by Shaliapin of the part of Salieri. Mozart (tenor) was sung by Shkafer, the conductor being Esposito. The same artists sang in the work when it was given in St. Petersburg in the following year. In _Mozart and Salieri_, which is not called an opera but merely a dramatic scene, we have melodic recitative without any relapse into cantilena. The declamation of the two musical heroes is relieved and embellished by apt comments heard in the accompaniments. For instance, when Salieri speaks of a "simple scale," a scale is heard in the orchestra; when he mentions an organ, a pedal point is introduced into the accompaniment. This sounds extremely naïve, but in reality this miniature music-drama is remarkably clever as regards craftsmanship and musical repartee. The style of the work is completely in keeping with the period--the eighteenth century--and excellent imitations of Mozart's style occur when the master sits down to the piano and plays two tiny movements, _allegretto semplice_ and _grave_. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote one more work in a similar style to _Mozart and Salieri_, the Dramatic Prologue in one act _Boyarinya Vera Sheloga_, which was really intended to precede _The Maid of Pskov_ and elucidate the history of Olga, the heroine of that opera. The little work was first performed in this way by the Private Opera Company at Moscow in 1898. It tells in fuller detail the story of the two sisters Vera and Nadejda Nassonov, to which Prince Tokmakov refers in his conversation with Matouta in the first act of _The Maid of Pskov_, and introduces the Boyard Ivan Sheloga and Vlassievna, the faithful nurse of the orphaned Olga. The work contains a charming lullaby sung by Vera to her little daughter. This number is published apart from the Prologue and has become extremely popular with amateur singers. _Sadko, A Legendary Opera_ (Opera-bylina), in seven tableaux, composed between 1895-1896, is a compromise between lyrical and declamatory opera so skilfully effected that this work has come to be regarded as the perfect fruit of Rimsky-Korsakov's maturity, and the most complete exposition of his artistic creed. The work was produced by the Private Opera Company at Moscow in December, 1897, and introduced to St. Petersburg by the same company in the following year.