[2] The story centers around the death of the main protagonist Klara Milich, and the work is characterized as being a oneiric, or an appeal to introspection and a destabilization between psychological states of awareness and dreaming.
[3] According to the memoirs of the composer's son, his father was attracted by "the contrast between the romantic fatal love that blossomed against the backdrop of a modest old Moscow life, well known to him, and the indifferent vulgarity of the so-called" world.
[4] In the opera, the death scene is also drawn out, while Kastalsky also infused his texts with influences of W. A. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet.
Lobzakova point out the additional influence of Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin" in the portrayal of Aratov:[3] "If the idea of the concerto, scaled by Kastalsky in the opera to a whole act, was nevertheless suggested by the original source, then the scenes of mass urban festivities of the second act, broadcasting images of spring, love, flirting, easy pastime, against which Aratov utters in Onegin's restrained and a cold rebuff to Clara's passionate feelings are entirely introduced by the composer in order to achieve the necessary dramatic contrast."
[2] Vladimir Vladimirovich Derzhanovsky, 19th-century Russian music critic, praised the opera for its strong instrumentation and dramatic quality, especially Klara's death and the "interesting details."