The Third Version of the Ballet "Cholpon"

Plot of the Third Version of the Ballet "Cholpon"

The third version of the ballet "Cholpon," prepared for the decade of Kyrgyz art in Moscow in 1958, differed fundamentally from the previous ones (productions by N. Kholfin and N. Tugelov).

Here is a brief summary of this version's plot.

The Khan's son Nurdin fell in love with a simple girl, Cholpon. She reciprocated his feelings, and both were happy. But the evil, ugly sorceress Aydai, who is denied earthly joys, seeks to separate the lovers.

Tracking Cholpon, Aydai first appears before her in the guise of a witch, and then, using the power of magic, transforms into a beauty surrounded by servants and a lavish retinue.

Musically, in this scene, a tender, pastoral melody of national character, expressing the theme of love, is replaced by Aydai's leitmotif. Built on contrasting, often harsh rhythms, it lacks the graceful variations that accompany the theme of Nurdin and Cholpon.

At the same time, the old Temir-khan, seeking to thwart his son's love for a simple girl, decides to marry him off in his own way.

He invites neighboring khans with their daughters. The matchmaking begins, but Nurdin does not look at the beauties.

Suddenly, Aydai appears. Her magical beauty captivates Nurdin, and he, enchanted, agrees to marry Aydai. The music of this scene is diverse and colorful, its elevated pomp and solemnity correspond to the lavish splendor of Temir-khan's palace. But no matter how detached the sounds of the ceremonial music are, one can hear the intonations of the familiar theme of passionate love. They fade away and then break through with renewed strength, smooth and graceful. Aydai's musical theme responds in contrast. Her bravura is replaced by alluring, melodic motifs. In some ways, all this resembles the musical characterization of the Shemakhanskaya queen in N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Golden Cockerel." There is both Eastern languor and insatiable passion, which is hard to resist. At this moment, Nurdin agrees to marry Aydai. But overcoming all dangers, Cholpon sneaks into the khan's palace. Along with her, gentle sounds fluttered in. With the power of her love, she helps Nurdin free himself from the witch's magic. And then Nurdin pushes Aydai away. But the sorceress does not give up. Her servants capture the lovers and imprison them in a dark well (zindan-prison). And here the sad theme does not remain dominant: the music conveys the bright dreams of Cholpon and Nurdin. They are expressed in a melody reminiscent of a lullaby and a cheerful dance motif. Both melodies serve as a challenge to the evil force that has thrown them into the stone sack of the zindan.

Next, a jinn enters the scene (instead of the image of Jarkyn in the first and second versions of the ballet). Aydai gives him a magical scarf, with which she commands him to bewitch and bring Nurdin to her. He succeeds. The scene is accompanied by sharp dissonant rhythms, close in structure to Aydai's theme.

Morning arrives. A soft melody plays on the temir-kumuz. The awakened Cholpon discovers Nurdin's disappearance and follows his trail through a crack in the rock. The motif of sadness is replaced by joyful, lively rhythms, anticipating the finale.

At the moment when Aydai is enjoying Nurdin's love, Cholpon appears. She has endured much, but all obstacles have retreated before the magic of love. Here she stands before the sorceress, and Aydai loses her former power, disappearing like a bad dream, along with her servants and palace.

The final scene takes place in a wonderful garden that has grown where the witch's palace once stood. People are forever freed from the evil force, and happy couples experience the fullness of life and happiness.

The fairy tale culminates in a joyful finale, a celebration of all-conquering love. The victorious march of the heroes grows and expands in broad symphonic sound, transitioning into a lyrically excited joyful waltz in the concluding part.

The feelings that the audience experiences from the performance are not limited to the framework of a fairy tale plot. The fairy tale is merely a form of revealing a deeply life-like, realistic situation. This is one of the reasons for the success of the performance.

The essence of all the changes that the performance underwent over the years was determined by the desire to give the fairy tale realistic traits. While the first version was dominated by fantasy, and the entire action was cluttered with mundane details, in subsequent versions, the lengthy passages that weakened the dynamics of the action were removed, and unnecessary details were eliminated. All this gave the performance compositional coherence. Additionally, the social characteristics of the characters were deepened and sharpened. In previous versions of the libretto, Nurdin was depicted as a poor man who fell in love with a simple girl like himself, and the conflict with the khan arose because he hunted in the khan's lands. The situation is different in the last version. Nurdin is the khan's son who falls in love with a girl from the people. The hero enters into conflict with the khan — his father, rejects wealthy heiresses, and emerges victorious from this unequal struggle. Although there is some idealization in this, the audience accepts it, captivated by the power of the love revealed before them.

The final scene of the ballet — the grand final waltz — is permeated with the victory of bright, pure feelings.

The consistent and convincing argumentation of events is also expressed in the final musical interpretation of the ballet. Despite the fairy tale form and the abundance of fantastic elements, the music has a realistic character; like the entire plot framework, it conveys the intensity of hot human feelings. The depth of the portrayal of these feelings of the characters and their truthful expression manifests not in abstract melodic sound but in a very concrete way. Thus, the lyrical theme of Cholpon and Nurdin is expressed in delicate and poignant melodies reminiscent of tunes played on the temir-kumuz. The theme of their opponents — Temir-khan and the sorceress Aydai — sounds sharp and brash; here the composer uses unusual combinations of musical instruments.

The clarity of the plot lines, social characteristics, and the penetrating emotionality of the music helped the performers accurately and fully reveal all that is essential in the characters of the ballet.

New edition of the ballet "Cholpon" 1953