Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper In Poland, Russia and Ukraine an extra plate and seat are always left at the table. According to the folk believes the spirits of the departed members of the family visit on the night. It is also very customary to be even more hospitable and invite unexpected visitors to the supper. Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper A twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper is traditionally prepared in many Central European and Northern European cultures, especially those that were formerly part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. The meal (, , , or "wieczerza wigilijna", , ) consists of
Christmas Eve (opera) Christmas Eve (opera) Christmas Eve (, "Noch' pered Rozhdestvom"), is an opera in four acts with music and libretto by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Composed between 1894 and 1895, Rimsky-Korsakov based his opera on a short story, "Christmas Eve", from Nikolai Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka". The story had been used as the basis for an opera at least three times previously, including for Tchaikovsky's "Vakula the Smith" (1874). Oliver Knussen writes that "Rimsky is only interested in recreating the atmosphere of the folk-tale, fleshing it out for his stage pageant in a comparable way to Humperdinck in "Hansel". Gerald