The Queen of Spades is an opera with music by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and based on the short story of the same name by famed Russian author Alexander Pushkin. Originally turned down by Tchaikovsky as a subject for a new opera, the composer eventually relented and accepted Pushkin's story, which follows the an officer in the Russian Imperial Army who becomes obsessed with finding out the secret behind three cards that, in combination, will ensure the win for any gambler who puts them to use. The opera premiered in 1890 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg to tremendous success, and is generally considered to be one of Tchaikovsky's greatest operas.
