Overture to the opera "Prisoner of the Caucaus," by César Cui. Based on the narrative poem by A.S. Pushkin. The overture was composed with the first version of the opera in 1857-1858 and subsequently re-orchestrated by Balakirev. The original version of the opera was never performed. In 1881-1882 the composer added a middle act and another dance; This second version was premiered in 1883. Apparently by 1885 Cui had added some more music to the Finale of Act 2, and this third version was premiered in Liege, Belgium. This orchestration of the overture uses MIDI sounds and is based on instrumental indications in the arrangement for piano, 4 hands, made by Nadezhda Nikolaevna Rimskaya-Korsakova (née Purgol'd) before she married Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The musical score that is showing in the video is from the French edition of the piano-vocal score. (The two-hand arrangement of the overture had been done by G.O. Dyutsh earlier for the Russian piano-solo edition.) Be sure to click on "HQ" to see the score more clearly. Увертюра к опере Кавказский пленник, сочинение Ц.А. Кюи. Сюжет заимствован из поемы А.С. Пушчкина. Видео показывает ноты из французского издания клавиры, в котором увертюру арранжировал Г.О. Дютш. Оркестровка Л. Неффа, используя отметки в переложении Н.Н. Римской-Корсаковы для фортепиано в 4-х руки.