Poetry
Кова оҳангар
Not translated into English
Abulqosim Lohuti · 1939
Synopsis
The tyrant Zahhak, whose serpents feed on human brains, demands the youth of the conquered lands. The smiths forge weapons against the invader, and the twelve sons of the master smith Kova take part in the fight. Ten of them fall, and lots are drawn to designate the survivors for death. To save Farrukh, the youngest, who is promised for execution, Kubad, father of his betrothed Nushofarin, becomes the tyrant's cook. Kova then forces the palace gates and accuses Zahhak to his face.
Context
The dramatic poem, written in 1939, served as the libretto for the opera by Sergei Balasanian, composed with Bobokalonov. The work was given in a radio-broadcast concert in Moscow on 15 December 1940, then premiered on stage on 15 April 1941, during the ten-day festival of Tajik art. The libretto unfolds the episode in four acts, with the blacksmith's numerous offspring, the younger son's fiancée and her father, and makes Kova the leader of a popular uprising against a foreign tyrant.
Who it is for
For those interested in Soviet rewritings of the great Persian narratives and in Tajik opera.
Prizes and reception
The Great Russian Encyclopedia ranks it among its author's major works, together with his collections of the twenties.