Golden Cockerel, The

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Golden Cockerel, The (Zolotoy petushok). Opera (his 14th and last) in 3 acts by Rimsky-Korsakov, lib. Belsky after Pushkin's poem (1834) which is based on two tales from The Alhambra by Washington Irving (1783–1859). Prod. Moscow 1909, London 1914, NY Met 1918. Comp. 1906–7, but perf. was banned in the composer's lifetime because of the opera's satire on autocracy. The indefensible habit of referring to it by the Fr. title Le Coq d'or arose from the prod. by Diaghilev in Paris, 1914, when all the roles were enacted by dancers while singers sat at the sides of the stage.