It is impossible to speak in detail of all Rubinstein's operas. The published scores are available for those who have time and inclination for so unprofitable a study. Such works as _Hadji-Abrek_, based on Lermontov's metrical tale of bloodshed and horror; or _Tom the Fool_, which carries us a little further in the direction of nationalism, but remains a mere travesty of Glinka's style; or _The Tower of Babel_; or _Nero_, are hardly likely to rise again to the ranks of living operatic works. His first national opera _Dmitri Donskoi_, in five acts, is linked, by the choice of a heroic and historical subject, with such patriotic works as Glinka's _A Life for the Tsar_, Borodin's _Prince Igor_ and Rimsky-Korsakov's _Maid of Pskov_ ("Ivan the Terrible"); but it never succeeded in gripping the Russian public. The libretto is based on an event often repeated by the contemporary monkish chroniclers who tell how Dmitri, son of Ivan II., won a glorious victory over the Mongolian Khan Mamaï at Kulikovo, in 1380, and freed Russia for the time being from the Tatar yoke. Youry Arnold, comparing Rubinstein's _Dmitri Donskoi_ with Dargomijsky's early work _Esmeralda_,[27] finds that, judged by the formal standards of the period, it was in advance of Dargomijsky's opera as regards technique, but, he says, "the realistic emotional expression and unforced lyric inspiration of _Esmeralda_ undoubtedly makes a stronger appeal to our sympathies and we recognise more innate talent in its author." After the failure of _Dmitri Donskoi_, Rubinstein neglected the vernacular for some years and composed only to German texts. But early in the 'seventies the production of a whole series of Russian operas, Dargomijsky's _The Stone Guest_, Serov's _The Powers of Evil_, Cui's _William Ratcliff_, Rimsky-Korsakov's _Maid of Pskov_, and Moussorgsky's _Boris Godounov_, resuscitated the public interest in the national ideal and Rubinstein was obviously anxious not to be excluded from the movement. His comparative failure with purely Russian subjects, and the knowledge that he felt more at ease among Eastern surroundings, may have influenced his choice of a subject in this emergency; but undoubtedly Lermontov's poetry had a strong fascination for him, for _The Demon_ was the third opera based upon the works of the Russian Byron. Lermontov's romanticism, and the exquisite lyrical quality of his verse, which almost suggests its own musical setting, may well have appealed to Rubinstein's temperament. The poet Maikov took some part in arranging the text for the opera, but the libretto was actually carried out by Professor Vistakov, who had specialised in the study of Lermontov. When _The Demon_ was finished, Rubinstein played it through to "the mighty band" who assembled at Stassov's house to hear this addition to national opera. It would be expecting too much from human nature to look for a wholly favourable verdict from such a court of enquiry, but "the