Ziyodullo ShahidiЗиёдулло Шаҳидӣ

Works · Operas

Komde and MadanКомде ва Мадан

  • RomanisedKomde va Madan
  • RussianКомде и Модан
Form
opera in two acts
Composed
Premiered

Four claims, three years. 1960 is displayed because the composer's daughter says so on the record and the Russian encyclopedias agree. The 1961 reading still has a source and is not deleted; the 1996 reading is the Foundation's own typo and is not deleted either.

  1. Музыка Зиёдулло Шахиди на Великом шёлковом пути read

    Munira Shahidi, the composer's daughter: «"Комде и Модан", поставленная в Душанбе в 1960 году, а затем прозвучавшая в Самарканде».

  2. Зиядулло Шахиди extracted

    Music Encyclopedia and Russian Wikipedia both give 1960, Tajik Opera and Ballet Theatre, Dushanbe.

  3. Зиёдулло Шаҳидӣ extracted

    Tajik Wikipedia: staged in 1961 at the S. Ayni Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. The same page flags the Russian sources' 1960.

  4. Ziyodullo Shahidi: Rethinking Maqams And Symphony (part 2) read

    The Foundation's own 2004 biography prints 'the opera Komde and Madan (1996)'. Almost certainly a typo for 1960: no source records a 1996 premiere, the opera was published complete in 1982, and the same sentence dates Buzruk 1972 and Gulomon 1978 correctly. Kept because it is what the Foundation published about its own founder.

Published
After
«Ирфон», a poem by Abdulqadir Bedil Dehlavi (17th century)
With
Abdusalom Dehoti (libretto)
Premiere venue
Tajik Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after S. Ayni, Dushanbe
Radio recording
Moscow Radio, conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Leitmotif
Ушшоқи Самарқанд (Ushshoqi Samarkand — Beloved of Samarkand)
Russian title
Комде и Модан

Both spellings are in print, and the same 2026 interview uses Модан for the opera and Мадан inside a romance title.

  1. Комде и МоданМузыка Зиёдулло Шахиди на Великом шёлковом пути read

    Munira Shahidi's spelling throughout the 2026 interview; Russian Wikipedia agrees.

  2. Комде и МаданЗиядулло Шахиди extracted

    belcanto.ru and the Foundation's English pages use Madan.

Ayni's part in it
Created with the assistance of Sadriddin Ayni
London, 2014
Two dances performed at Cadogan Hall, London, October 2014
Memorial, 2026
Komde's romance «Имшаб хабар аз Мадан хабар нест» sung by Libuše Santorišová at the memorial evening for the composer at the Shahidi museum, 14 May 2026
Recorded by
Tajik Symphony Orchestra, on the Foundation's own CD

Madan, a Central Asian poet-singer, and Komde, a court dancer, are kept apart by the ‘harem culture’ of the rulers. The Foundation’s own reading of the opera is that its characters are deliberately less distinct than in European opera: Madan’s theme surfaces in Komde’s music as she accompanies his arias.

Recorded

4 clips, seventeen seconds each

Note

Widely called the first Tajik national opera. Russian Wikipedia spells the second name «Модан» where belcanto.ru and the Foundation spell it «Мадан»; both spellings appear in print and neither has been corrected here.

Sources for this record