Queen of Spades, The, is a tragic opera by the Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky. Modest Tchaikovsky, the composer’s brother, wrote the libretto (text). The opera is sometimes presented under the title Pique Dame. The opera is based on the short story “The Queen of Spades” (1834) by the Russian author Alexander Pushkin. The opera was first performed in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1890.
The Queen of Spades is the story of Hermann, a man who is destroyed by his passion for gambling. Hermann loves Lisa, who is engaged to Prince Yeletzky. Lisa soon returns Hermann’s love. Lisa’s grandmother, the Countess, is an enormously successful card player who bases her good luck on the combination of three cards. The Countess is nicknamed the Queen of Spades because of her success. Hermann visits the Countess and demands the secret of the card combination, but the frightened Countess dies. Later, the ghost of the Countess appears to Hermann and tells him the combination that always wins—a three, a seven, and an ace.
In the final act, Lisa realizes that Hermann’s gambling has driven him insane, and she drowns herself in despair. Hermann then meets Prince Yeletzky in a card game in a gambling house. Hermann wins the first two bets with the three and the seven, but his final card is the queen of spades. Hermann sees a vision of the dead Countess smiling at him with scorn. Cursing the Countess, he kills himself.
The opera is noted for its rising dramatic tension and the overall atmosphere of doom. The best-known musical number is Lisa’s aria “Ah, I am worn out by grief,” sung shortly before her suicide.
See also Pushkin, Alexander ; Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich .
