 It was not performed however until the 37th anniversary, when Alexander Melik-Pashayev conducted it during a Nov. 6, 1954, concert in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre.The Bolshoi's conductor, Vassili Nebolsin, found himself without a suitable new work to open the concert, and contacted Shostakovich just days before.He apparently based it on Glinka's "Ruslan and Ludmilla" overture (1842), and it features the same lively tempo and style of melody.