The Golden Cockerel

About the show

Tsar Dodon fears invasion and asks an Astrologer for advice. The Astrologer gives him a magical Golden Cockerel, which alerts the Tsar to danger from the Tsaritsa of Shemakha. Dodon sends his sons to war, but they kill one another. He then leads the army himself and becomes enamored of the Tsaritsa, who encourages his marriage proposal. At the wedding, the Astrologer asks for the Tsaritsa as his reward. Dodon strikes him dead, and the cockerel pecks Dodon’s throat. The Tsaritsa and cockerel disappear.