Lysenko worked on Taras Bulba during 1880-1891[2] but it was his insistence on the use of Ukrainian for performance that prevented any productions during his lifetime. He was intent on elevating Ukrainian culture to European standards that he refused to allow the opera to be translated.[3] The opera, which Lysenko also maintained was too ambitious for Ukrainian opera houses, was eventually staged during the Soviet period in Moscow after it was reorchestrated by Levko Revutsky.[3]