Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910)
Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel as Tsarevna Swan-Bird
Oil on canvas, 1900
142,5x93,5 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia

Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela-Vrubel (Russian: Íàäåæäà Èâàíîâíà Çàáåëà-Âðóáåëü 1 April [OS 20 March] 1868, Kovno – 4 July [OS 21 June] 1913, St. Petersburg) was a Russian opera singer. Vocally, she is best described as a lyrical (coloratura) soprano, with a particularly high tessitura.

In 1891 she graduated the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, having been in the class of Natalia Iretskaya. She also studied in Paris with Mathilde Marchesi. She sang her debut in 1893 at the I. Setov operatic troupe in Kiev. In the season 1894-1895 she sang in Tiflis, in 1895-96 in the St. Petersburg Private opera, and in 1896-1897 in Kharkov. During 1897-1904 she was a leading soprano in Savva Mamontov's Private Russian Opera. In 1904-1911 she became the soloist of the Mariinski Theatre in St. Petersburg.

In 1896 she married the famous Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel, who created a series of her portraits.

The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Russian: Ñêàçêà î öàðå Ñàëòàíå, Skazka o Tsare Saltane) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, seven scenes, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky, and is based on the poem of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin. The opera was composed in 1899-1900 to coincide with Pushkin's centenary, and was first performed in 1900 in Moscow, Russia.

The lengthy full title of both the opera and the poem is The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of his Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan.