Aleko (Rachmaninoff)

Aleko (Russian: Алеко) is the first of three completed operas by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The Russian libretto was written by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and is an adaptation of the poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin. The opera was written in 1892 as a graduation work at the Moscow Conservatory, and it won the highest prizes from the conservatory judges that year. It was first performed in Moscow 19 May 1892.

The Bolshoi Theatre's premiere took place on 9 May (O.S. 27 April) 1893 in Moscow.

The composer conducted another performance in Kiev on 18/30 October 1893. (Tchaikovsky had attended the Moscow premiere of Aleko, and Rachmaninoff had intended to hear the premiere of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony on 16/28 October, but had to catch a train for Kiev to fulfill his Aleko conducting engagement.) A Pushkin centenary celebration performance on 27 May 1899 at the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg featured Feodor Chaliapin in the title role, and utilized the chorus and ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The opera had its first performance in England on 15 July 1915 at the London Opera House under the direction of Vladimir Rosing.

The New York City Opera's 2016/17 season opened in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall with a double bill of Aleko and Pagliacci, an opera that also premiered in May 1892. James Meena conducted and Stefan Szkafarowsky sang the title role.

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