'The Queen of Spades' is an opera in 3 acts the great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) to a Russian libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky. Photo Shows: 'In the Gambling House', a scene during the Bolshoi Theatre production of the opera. Count Tomsky - V. Politkovsky. 1943 Supplied By: SCRSS - Society for Co-operation in Russian & Soviet Studies