Graf Cagliostro Explained

Graf Cagliostro ('Count Cagliostro') is a comic opera in two acts by Mikael Tariverdiev, written in 1981 to a libretto by Nikolai Kemarsky, after the tale of the same name by Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy.

Tolstoy's novella, based on the quack Cagliostro, was updated by composer and librettist so that it impinges on the modern world, (and uses modern musical style). Tariverdiev wrote:

Roles

RoleVoice typePremiere Cast
(Conductor: -)
Praskovia Petrovnasoprano
Cagliostrobaritone
Alexeitenor
Mariasoprano
Jan Lozhkintenor
Four generalsbaritone and bass
Chorus of tourists, etc.

Recording