If you go to an orchestra concert during December, there’s a small chance you’ll get to hear the suite from Rimsky-Korsakov‘s opera, Christmas Eve. Usually one movement (the Polonaise) gets programmed in an attempt to get some variety into the program, and to balance out things like Sleigh Ride.

But before you get the hot cocoa and snuggle up by the Christmas Tree, you should be aware that this is not your lovey-fuzzy Christmas Nutcracker. Like any good Russian opera, this tale has devils, a witches’ Sabbath, and a fantastical plot that is bizarre, even for an opera. Or, on the other hand, go ahead and get the cocoa and snuggle up; just blissfully ignore all the dark subject matter and enjoy the music!

The witches’ Sabbath in this piece is fairly tame. By this time this piece was written, the subject had already been overdone – the trend was started by Berlioz nearly half a century before. I suppose Rimsky-Korsakov knew he couldn’t outdo his good friend‘s more famous setting of the same subject!