Tchaikovsky composed his first opera - The Voyevoda - in 1867. It was not a success - after the disastrous premiere in 1869, the excessively self-critical composer burnt the manuscript of the work. As a composer of opera, Tchaikovsky could seek inspiration in centuries of operatic tradition in western Europe, but the history of the genre in Russia had only just begun a few years before he was born. Tchaikovsky's last opera, Iolanta, a one-act work, never achieved the same popularity as Queen of Spades. And it certainly never attained the same reputation as his ballet The Nutcracker, premiered at the same time in 1892. When Tchaikovsky died in 1893, he was hailed worldwide primarily for his instrumental music and his ballets, the first Russian to be so revered. He composed between nine and twelve operas (counting adaptations and fragments). This Edition also includes the stage music to Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden) and Hamlet.