Shponka and His Aunt
Shponka and His Aunt is an opera in one act by composer Anastasia Bespalova. The opera uses a Russian libretto by Arkady Zastyrets which is based upon the story of the same name by Nikolai Gogol. The opera was commissioned by the Mariinsky Theatre along with two other new operas, Svetlana Nesterova's The Lawsuit and Vyacheslav Kruglik's The Carriage, all based on stories by Gogol. The three operas premiered together on 21 June 2009 during the Mariinsky Theatre's summer festival.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 21 June 2009 |
| Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka | bass baritone | Andrei Serov |
| Aunt Vasilisa Tsupchevska | mezzo-soprano | Elizaveta Zakharova |
| Grigory Grigorievich Storchenko | tenor | Andrei Popov |