Both judgments are too severe. _The Oprichnik_ is not exactly popular, but it has never dropped out of the repertory of Russian opera. Many years ago I heard it in St. Petersburg, and noted my impressions. The characters, with the exception of the Boyarinya Morozova, are not strongly delineated; the subject is lurid, "horror on horror's head accumulates"; the Russian and Italian elements are incongruously blended; yet there are saving qualities in the work. Certain moments are charged with the most poignant dramatic feeling. In this opera, even as in the weakest of Tchaikovsky's music, there is something that appeals to our common humanity. The composer himself must have modified his early judgment, since he was actually engaged in remodelling _The Oprichnik_ at the time of his death. In 1872 the Grand Duchess Helena Pavlovna commissioned Serov to compose an opera on the subject of Gogol's Malo-Russian tale "Christmas Eve Revels." A celebrated poet, Polonsky, had already prepared the libretto, when the death of the Grand Duchess, followed by that of Serov himself, put an end to the scheme. Out of respect to the memory of this generous patron, the Imperial Musical Society resolved to carry out her wishes. A competition was organised for the best setting of Polonsky's text under the title of _Vakoula the Smith_, and Tchaikovsky's score carried off both first and second prizes. In after years he made considerable alterations in this work and renamed it _Cherevichek_ ("The Little Shoes"). It is also known in foreign editions as _Le Caprice d'Oxane_. The libretto follows the general lines of the _Christmas Eve Revels_, described in the chapter dealing with Rimsky-Korsakov.