The plot concerns a famous episode in the life of Peter the Great, in which he disguised himself under an assumed name as a worker in the shipyards of Saardam, and has certain similarities to Donizetti's earlier 1-act farce Il falegname di Livonia.

The opera itself had a slow start, but soon the Neapolitans loved it, for Donizetti was very popular in that city; it was still in the repertory the following year and achieved more than thirty-five performances.

[4] However, when the opera was staged at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 2 January 1828, and in Rome in June, it completely failed, receiving but a single performance in each city.

[6] 20th century and beyond The opera was also produced in Barcelona (1829), Vienna (1836), Berlin (1837), and Budapest (1839), but was then ignored until 1973, when it was staged in the town of its setting, now called Zaandam, where it received nine performances and was recorded.

During the five months in Holland he interacted most extensively with Nicolaes Witsen, the mayor of Amsterdam, who was an expert on both Russian affairs and on shipbuilding.