"The Arshin Mal Alan" (2-act musical)

Age limit: 6+

Composer: Uzeyir Hajibeyli

Libretto author: Uzeyir Hajibeyli

Genre: musical comedy

Language: Azerbaijani

Performance duration: 2 hours 30 minutes (one intermission)

Conductor of the performance: Javanshir Jafarov (People's Artist)

Founding director: Hafiz Guliyev (Honored Artist)

                              BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE OPERA

The young merchant Asker is thinking about getting married, and he also wants to see and like the girl he is going to marry before the wedding. But what father would show his daughter to him? After all, this was against the customs of the time. His friend Suleiman advises Asker to dress up as an "arshin-malchi" and go door-to-door selling goods to ladies. Only in this way could he choose and love the girl he loved, because no girl would hide her face from an arshin-malchi.

Asker listens to his friend's advice and arrives at Soltan Bey's house in his new attire. Meanwhile, Soltan Bey's daughter Gulchohra, niece Asya, and maid Telli are busy embroidering in the yard, chatting. Gulchohra complains about the fate of women who are blindly married to men she has never seen or known. At this time, Asker enters the yard and tells the girls that he has brought a hundred-yard worth of goods. They become acquainted. In a short time, Gulchohra promises not to marry anyone but Asker.

Asker sends Suleyman to Soltan Bey's house as an ambassador. Soltan Bey immediately agrees to marry his daughter to the merchant, but Gulchohra flatly rejects this offer and breaks her father's word. Gulchohra does not know that Asker is the same man as the arshin-malchi she has fallen in love with. Enraged by his daughter's rejection, Soltan Bey rushes Asker to start preparing for the wedding. Then they forcibly kidnap Gulchohra and take her to Asker's house. The girl almost commits suicide, but at that moment she hears the arshin-malchi's familiar song. Gulchohra, who meets Asker, suggests that she run away, but Asker jokingly informs the girl of the matter. The joke ends, and not with one wedding, but with four: Asker marries Gulchohra, Suleyman marries Asya, the servant Telli marries Veli, and the old Soltan Bey marries Asger's aunt Jahan.