Overture: Russia's imperial prima donnas -- Russian Minervas staging empire -- The play of possibilities: serfs enacting aristocrats, countesses playing peasants -- Catherine the empress(ario): making tales into princely operas -- Oleg at the roots of Russian historical opera -- Interlude: to patria and nation -- Ruslan and Liudmila: the princess, the witch, and the dwarf -- Rusalka: water, power, and women -- Mlada and the spellbinding female circle -- Sadko: he is the hero! -- The inescapable queen

1. Opera -- Russia -- 18th century
2. Opera -- Russia -- 19th century
3. Empresses -- Russia -- History -- 18th century
4. Women opera producers and directors -- Russia -- History -- 18th century
5. Kings and rulers in opera
6. Women in opera