Watch Rachmaninoff, Aleko

Evgeny Nesterenko stars in the title role of Aleko by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Influenced by the Italian verismo school (the plot is a close relation to that of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci), the score is full of colorful evocations of Gypsy life and passionate emotional outpourings. The cast of this expansive 1986 film version, directed by Victor Okuntsov, includes members of Gypsy folk ensembles.