The opera was premiered at the
Semperoper in Dresden on 24 February 1863, and had subsequent stagings in Vienna (1872), Milan (1874), Berlin (1879), and Danzig (1880). Its first production in Russia was an amateur performance in Saint Petersburg in 1884. The first professional production there was on 18 August 1898 at the
Mariinsky Theatre, conducted by
Felix Blumenfeld. The reason for its late appearance on the Russian stage was competition from an
opéra-comique on the same subject by
Félicien David.
Peter Tchaikovsky, who heard the opera at the Berlin 1879 staging, liked the opera and wrote to
Nadezhda von Meck that "it comes from the period in which Rubinstein did all his best work, that is 20 years ago". Perhaps the same Berlin production of 4 March 1879 produced an interesting report in the
Musical Times; "Rubinstein's opera ... was successfully produced on the 4th
ult. at the Royal Opera house at Berlin, the principal
rôles being taken by Herr Niemann and Madame Mallinger; in consequence, however, of the latter having refused to sing certain portions of her part, the composer abstained from personally conducting his work." ==Roles==