Main roles in the premiere performed by Soviet stars Nikolai Karachentsov and Elena Shanina.

The opera is named after the two ships Juno and Avos that constituted the expedition headed by Russian explorer Nikolai Rezanov.

[5] In 1806 Nikolai Rezanov arrived in California, then a part of New Spain, to get provisioning for Russian settlements in Alaska.

A year later, Alexander Andreyevich Baranov told Maria the news, but she would not believe it until 1842 when Sir George Simpson gave her a detailed account of Rezanov's death.

The cross on the grave is engraved with "I will never forget you" on one side and "I will never see you again" on the other, referencing a line from a popular track of the opera performed by a male and a female singer.

Voznesensky never claimed historical accuracy in his account, stating that characters in his poem are images echoing the fates of real people.

His attempts to arrange trade with North America are not well received at government, but finally he is ordered to organize the expedition he desires.

Rezanov greets the Californians on behalf of Russia and the governor invites him, as the ambassador of Czar Alexander, to the 16th birthday ball for his daughter.