The scenario, by the composer, was based on the novel Askold's Grave (Аскольдова могила, 1833) by Mikhail Zagoskin and the poem Rogneda (ca.

This opera forms a sequel of sorts to Alexey Verstovsky's highly successful singspiel, Askold's Grave, which premiered in 1835, just the year before Glinka's A Life for the Tsar reached the stage.

No less a patriotic opera than those two, Rogneda in its plot combines elements of the life of the title character with the Christianization of Russia, dated in 988 with the conversion of Vladimir I of Kiev.

The premiere performance took place on 27 October 1865 at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, conducted by Konstantin Lyadov (the singer Osip A. Petrov as Vladimir Krasnoye Solnyshko), while the Moscow premiere took place during the following year at the Bolshoy Theatre in Moscow conducted by Shramek.

The premiere of the opera proved to be a resounding hit, and the work remained extremely popular through the end of the Russian Empire.

Rogneda, knife in hand, approaches him, but Vladimir suddenly awakens (he has had a dream of danger) and stops her, threatening with execution the next day.