Opera
Synopsis
The aging Ukrainian Cossack hetman Mazepa demands the hand of young Maria from her father Kochubey. When Kochubey opposes the match and denounces Mazepa's secret alliance with Sweden against Peter the Great, Mazepa has him executed. Maria, discovering her father's death and her lover's treachery, goes mad. Tchaikovsky's powerful and underperformed opera, based on Pushkin's Poltava, combines political intrigue with devastating personal tragedy.