Abarinova's best-known operatic roles were as the Princess in "Rusalka" and Laura in "The Stone Guest", both by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, as well as Spiridonova in Alexander Serov's "The Power of the Fiend" and Lady Pamela in Daniel Auber's "Fra Diavolo". In theatre she excelled as Natalya Dmitriyevna in Alexander Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit", Zvezdintseva in "The Fruits of Enlightenment" by Leo Tolstoy, Gurmyzhskaya in "The Forest" and Ogudalova in "Without a Dowry", both by Aleksandr Ostrovsky. She played Polina Andreyevna in the 1896 premiere performance of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull".