About the work
Comic opera (opéra comique) in three acts that Luigi Cherubini composed in 1792–93 to a libretto by Honoré-Nicolas-Marie Duveyrier ("Mélesville père"). The upheavals of the French Revolution left the finale unfinished, and the work was never performed during the composer's lifetime.
Plot
Amazan, raised as a foundling, loves Zulma, whose father Fohi opposes the match. When a Tatar force besieges the castle, Amazan distinguishes himself in battle, winning both honour and Zulma's hand; the hostile commander Koukourgi is in turn reined in by his own father.
Cultural significance
Cherubini later reused four numbers from the score in his opera "Ali Baba" (1833). As part of the critical Cherubini Edition, "Koukourgi" was reconstructed, its finale completed by Heiko Cullmann, and the opera received its stage premiere on 16 September 2010 at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt to mark the composer's 250th birthday – around 220 years after it was written.