Language: Russian
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Jalil, Opéra in two acts, Music by Nazib Zhiganov, Libretto by Akhmed Faisi, with the Orchestra of the Tatar State Academic Opera and the theater orchestra and children's choir, created with the Conservatory borough Sovetsky of the city of Kazan. Nazib's operas were all relatively early works; the last one was Jalil, from 1957, based on the life of the poet Musa Cälil.

Nazib Zhiganov dedicated this opera to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. The central figure of the work is Musa Jalil, the Tatar poet whose heroism has made him a national figure.

Musa Cälil was a Soviet–Tatar poet and resistance fighter. He is the only poet of the Soviet Union awarded simultaneously the Hero of the Soviet Union award for his resistance fighting and the Lenin Prize for having written The Moabit Notebooks; both awards were bestowed upon him posthumously.
He was born in Mustafino, a village in Orenburg Governorate, to a family of junk dealers. He graduated from Husainiya Madrasa in Orenburg. His first published works were revolutionary verses. A romantic poetic style celebrating revolution that was often found in young Tatar poetry of the 1920s. In 1919, he joined the underground Komsomol cell in Orenburg (the region was under the control of White Russians at that time). Then, Musa participated in the Russian Civil War against pro-White forces; due to his young age, he did not fight at the front, instead serving in a Red Army unit. In 1920, Cälil returned to his native village, establishing the pro-Communist youth organization The Red Flower there. He also became a Komsomol activist in Mustafino.

The largest center of Tatar national music is the Jalil Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Musa Cälil. The first Tatar opera, Saniä, was staged in 1925. It was composed by Soltan Gabashi in collaboration with Vasili Vinogradov. Farit Yarullin was the creator of the first Tatar ballet, Şüräle. Modern Tatar music includes practically all existing basic musical genres. Almaz Monasypov is one of the first Soviet Tatar composers re-embodied in modern music the ancient layers of the national tradition like baits, munajats and book singing.

Direction: Mikhaïl Pandjavidze (Director), Renat Salavatov (Music Conductor)
Cast: Jalil: Akhmed Agadi, His wife: Marina Nerabeeva, Juravlev: Aïdar Nurgayanov, Kanzafarov: Evgueni Ulanov, Traitor: Yury Ivshine - André Timmermans, The prisoner: Dina Khamsina, The mad woman: Vladimir Vassiliev, Kovalev: Yuri Petrov, Stpaev: Rustem Kutlubaev, Ishnazarov: Marcel Miftakhov, Sabirov: Ravil Idrisov, Matveev: Oleg Machin, The German officer: Stanislas Sherbinin