The May Night (Майская ночь) is an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, based on The May Night, or the Drowned Maiden by Nikolai Gogol. Rimsky-Korsakov dedicated the opera to his beloved wife.
Tropes featured in the opera:
- Abhorrent Admirer: The Village Head tries to hit on Hanna, but she is disgusted with him (and squicked out because she's in a relationship with his son).
- Adaptational Heroism: In the novella, the Pannochka ordered people to search for the witch on pain of drowning. Here, it's never mentioned: though Levko says that she "would order [any human being she sees] to look for her stepmother", he doesn't speak of any punishment for those who fail to do so.
- Adaptational Nice Guy:
- In the novella, Hanna flirted with the Village Head without even telling Levko she wasn't exclusive with him. Here, she adamantly rebuffs the Village Head's advances and is fully loyal to Levko.
- In the novella, the Pannochka asks Levko to sing for her. Here, she asks him to sing so that his song could cheer up the other rusalkas.
- Adaptational Timespan Change: When the novella ends, the titular night isn't even over yet. The opera ends in the morning.
- Ascended Extra:
- Hanna has a more prominent part here than in the novella. In particular, she appears in the final scene.
- The rusalkas except for the Pannochka are background characters here as well as in the novella, but they get a lot of stage time with a long singing and dancing sequence, while in the book they are barely mentioned in a couple of paragraphs.
- Benevolent Boss: The Pannochka is very nice towards the rusalkas, asking Levko to sing to cheer them up.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The rusalka chorus recalls their tragic human lives that led to them drowning themselves.
- Quarreling Song: Hanna and the Village Head have a duet where he tries to persuade her to accept him and she refuses firmly. It turns into a trio when Levko, unseen to both, joins the singing.
- Stepford Smiler: Implied with the rusalkas. The majority of their songs is slow and melancholy, despite them coming out of the lake to play, and they constantly tell each other to forget the tragedies of their lives.
- "The Villain Sucks" Song: Like in the novella, Levko composes and sings a whole song to humiliate his Archnemesis Dad.
