Kaleriya Khristoforovna and informs her of his marriage to Vera Chekuanova the previous day: Yesterday on the day of my marriage I telegraphed you in Helingsfors. I hope that you received it.101 On 12 July Rubinstein had married Vera Chekuanova in Baden-Baden. Of his immediate family only Nikolay was present, and there were no more than sixteen persons in the church to witness the ceremony. His sponsors (i.e., those standing in for his parents) were Mme Chernsheva and Mr. Myuller, and his best man was Mr. Volkov. Those for Vera were her mother, and Mr. Stolpin (a certain Mr. Bruner gave her away). As you see, he remarked to his mother, unfamiliar people, or very distant acquain- tances. But since the marriage was held abroad, it could not be any other way.102 After the ceremony, the couple went directly to Stuttgart. They planned a trip to Paris, then to take a short holiday in Switzerland. After this they intended returning to St. Petersburg via Baden-Baden. Barenboym tells us that Vera was the youngest of several daughters in an im- poverished family of landowners with a small estate in the Province of Nov- gorod called Glubokoye.103 The family spent the winter months in St. Peters- burg, and, according to Vera herself, she met her future husband at a costumed ball at the Academy of Arts in 1859. He was dressed as a pilgrim and she, as an Italian girl, and, as they were both fond of dancing, they soon found themselves partnered in a Strauss waltz. Veras father was a retired ofcer and was arrogant and conceited. He opposed the match from the start and considered it degrading for his daughter to marry an artist with no material standing, who had origi- nated from the Jewish merchants estate. Fortunately for Rubinstein, Vera be- came a pupil of Pauline Viardot in Russia, and most of the courtship took place at her convivial home in Baden-Baden.104 In all probability the engagement was announced in the summer of 1864 when both Anton and Vera were visiting Pauline. Rubinstein returned to St. Petersburg with his bride on 28 August/9 Septem- ber 1865. Yakov Becker met them at the railway station, and they drove straight to Veras father, where they spent an hour. When they arrived at their new home, they found Kologrivov, Aleksandr Shustov, Vera Ivasheva,105 and two lady friends of his wife waiting for them. Evidently Kaleriya Khristoforovna had taken great care to arrange the apartment for the homecoming of the newly- weds, for Rubinstein thanked her effusively for all the care she had taken and for all your love and kindness. On 26 October/7 November 1865 he wrote to her that he and Vera were settling in well and that they had instituted Sunday evening receptions attended by many people who came to chat and play cards. As a rare exception there is a little music, that is, singing with piano accompa- niment, with Wieniawski, etc.106 One of the eagerly awaited events that fall in St. Petersburg was the premiere of Serovs new opera, Rogneda, which was presented at the Mariiinsky Theater on 27 October/ 8 November 1865. The opera scored a huge success with the public because of its colorful historical setting and vivid folk scenes. Serov had become intoxicated with his success, Rubinstein remarked, and the public is