The work uses a Russian language libretto by the composer after Nikolai Leskov's The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea (Russian: Сказ о тульском косом Левше).
In a flashback the flea is presented to Alexander at Buckingham Palace and its dancing is shown (described in an onomatopoeic orchestral interlude).
There he is admiringly interviewed by the Court who try to persuade him to take an English bride, but he refuses.
He dies, the Flea sings a lullaby and the opera ends with a burial rite.
[3] In 2015 a full recording of the opera was released by the Mariinsky Theater with Andrey Popov in the title role, Maria Maksakova as Princess Charlotte, Kristina Alieva as Flea, Edward Tsanga as Platov, Andrei Spekhov as the English sailor, and Vladimir Moroz as both Tsars Alexander I and Nicholas I.