This lecture reveals Rimsky-Korsakov’s classic opera, The Golden Cockerel, as daring political commentary, directly reflecting the events surrounding the first Russian Revolution. Study the opera’s fairy-tale plot, in parallel with the drama of Russia’s devastating military encounter with the Japanese in 1905, and anti-Tsarist rebellion within Russia. Hear key excerpts from the opera, and observe how the opera’s narrative works as a thinly veiled indictment of Tsar Nicholas II, his government, and the Russian military.