An important Russian composer, Alexsander Dargomyzhsky began professional music studies at the advice of Mikhail Glinka. Dargomyzhsky’s first opera, Esmeralda, was a huge success. His opera Rusalka is a classic example of Dargomyzhsky’s outstanding skills employing genuine Russian themes into the opera form. Dargomyzhsky’s most important opera, The Stone Guest, was scored by Rimsky-Korsakov.