Music: Pique-Dame

Alexander Pushkin once wrote a story which concerned an old countess and her granddaughter, three cards and the young girl's lover. The old countess was called Pique-Dame (Queen of Spades) because years before as Belle of St. Petersburg she had attended masquerades in such a costume and because—this was only whispered about the court—she knew three cards by which a gambler could infallibly make his fortune. The soldier, Heran, loved Lisa, the granddaughter, but he had no money. The countess's secret preyed upon him and he hid himself one night in her...

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