Abstract. The paper examines the problem of interpretation of images of power in Russian musical culture. It shows that the change in the attitude to figures of power in social and cultural life influences their interpretation in art, in particular in music theatre. The features of postmodern culture, such as fragmentation, negation of history, semantic pluralism have been analyzed from their reflection in deconstructive rendering of texts of Russian culture in contemporary productions. On the examples of different interpretations of operas by Musorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov it has been demonstrated that art has big possibilities in forming the attitude to the values of Russian culture based on respect and understanding.