The Prisoner of the Caucasus (opera)

The Prisoner of the Caucasus (Кавказский пленник in Cyrillic, Kavkazskij plennik in transliteration) is an opera in three acts, composed by César Cui.

The libretto is credited to Viktor Krylov, and is based on Alexander Pushkin's 1822 poem The Prisoner of the Caucasus.

In 1885, with the prospect of a Belgian production, he expanded the finale of Act II, creating the third version of the opera.

The Prisoner of the Caucasus was premiered on 4 February 1883 (Old Style), at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg under the conductorship of Eduard Nápravník.

Its production in Liège in 1886 — made possible in no small way by the enthusiastic support of Cui's friend, La Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau — marked the first time that an opera by "The Mighty Handful" was performed in the West.

After the men of the aoul pray to Allah, Kazenbek tells his melancholy daughter, Fatima, that a bridegroom has been chosen for her.

Suddenly a crowd of highlanders arrive, bringing along a Russian Prisoner that Fatima's bridegroom has captured as a wedding gift.

After they part, a highlander runs in to tell Kazenbek of a group of Russians raiding a nearby aoul.

[Note: According to the score, this is the method of Fatima's demise in the opera, not drowning, which is implied in Pushkin's original poem.]