Alternate Character Interpretation: The Old Grandfather can be portrayed as helpless against the Jester's bullying taunts, or, as in the 2017 Gergiev recording, as seeing through them and cheerfully snarking back at him.
Harsher in Hindsight: Despite being implied to be fairly young, Saltan repeatedly says he hopes he'll be alive to see Gvidon and the wonders of the latter's realm. These lines have a tragic ring to them in the 2017 Gergiev recording, since Edward Tsanga, who sang Saltan in it, died at the age of 37 before he could see the recording's release.
