The idea of writing an opera based on Pushkin’s The Stone Guest came to Dargomyzhsky in 1863, however, he approached the work only three years later. According to the composer, he felt frightened by how unusual and brave the task was. “Amusing myself with Pushkin’s Don Juan”, he wrote, “Trying something really rare: writing the music for the scenes from The Stone Guest as they are, not changing a word”. The work moved forward slowly due to the fast-declining health of the composer. The Stone Guest provoked great interest, even at the stage of writing. At the meetings of the Mighty Handful, Dargomyzhsky regularly introduced his associates to the new pages, always saying: “If I die unable to complete The Stone Guest, let César Cui finish the writing and Rimsky-Korsakov orchestrate it”.