Italy to broadcast Opera Abai in forty countries
Teatro Carlo Felice will broadcast the opera Abai in forty countries of the world. On November 8, the creative team of the Astana Opera will open the tour in the Italian opera house with the national classical masterpiece - the opera Abai by A. Zhubanov and L. Khamidi.
Teatro Carlo Felice will broadcast the opera Abai in forty countries of the world. On November 8, the creative team of the Astana Opera will open the tour in the Italian opera house with the national classical masterpiece - the opera Abai by A. Zhubanov and L. Khamidi. A press conference with the participation of Kazakh soloists, maestro Alan Buribayev and the management of the Genoese opera house will be held a day before the performance. The tour program will continue on November 10th with L. van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, the Astana Opera House's press office informs.
We are very pleased to meet with high art lovers and once again perform at the Genoese opera house - one of the most beautiful opera houses in Italy. Our collective presents opera and ballet performances on this Italian stage since 2015, so the audience has had a chance to love us and it is always waiting for new performances, which makes us very happy. I would like to thank the management of the Teatro Carlo Felice for the invitation. The tour will take place within the framework of the program "Rukhani Zhangyru" with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan from November 8 to 10," said the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, the General Director of the Astana Opera Galim Akhmedyarov.
Today, opera soloists, symphony orchestra musicians, choir, ballet dancers, supernumerary actors, make-up artists, lighting technicians, prop masters and stage machinists have already gone to Genoa, the sixth largest city in Italy.
Teatro Carlo Felice was built in 1827. World's most famous conductors and orchestras, high-profile ballet companies and opera singers have performed on its stage. However, due to the fact that the Genoese opera house is around 200 years old, it does not have the technical characteristics of the Astana Opera's stage. Large side spaces of the Kazakhstani stage, called 'side pockets', allow us to quickly change the sets, in addition, there are also dressing areas for the soloists there. Everything is different at the Teatro Carlo Felice, and we will use the lower platform, which closes the stage perimeter. Thus, one of the most ambitious and heaviest set elements - Abai's house will be located in the 'hold', that is, under the stage, and will appear onstage from there. In general, the performance will be presented to the viewers as it originally runs at the Astana Opera, including the audience seeing the animals involved in the production," shared the Head of the Design and Production Complex Victor Carare.
Presenting our Kazakh music, performing a national opera abroad is one of the main goals of Kazakhstani artists. The opera Abai is the epitome of the true Kazakh spirit, the life of our ancestors. We, the performers, must convey the whole essence of the opera to the European listeners. I know that the opera Abai was staged in the German language in Germany, but it will be performed in Italy in Kazakh for the first time. I firmly believe that thanks to this production, the foreign public will discover a lot about our country and our music, will be able to understand our spiritual component and may want to visit Kazakhstan," said the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, performer of the role of Abai, Principal Soloist of the Astana Opera Sundet Baigozhin.
The singer has added that he is happy to perform this opera abroad.
All the action revolves around my hero. Abai is a legendary person for the Kazakh people: he is an outstanding poet, educator, philosopher who became the nation's spiritual teacher. This is why it is a great responsibility for me to perform this role in Italy, even though I have often portrayed the character of the great Abai in our country. I hope that the Italian audience will like everything, and the Kazakh opera will leave a lasting impression on the foreign viewers. I am sure that the opera Abai must become a world treasure," concluded the famous singer.
The Astana Opera's Soloists and Principal Soloists are getting ready to perform the leading roles in the opera Abai: Abai - the Honored Workers of Kazakhstan Sundet Baigozhin, Zhanat Shybykbayev; Azhar - the Honored Artist of Kazakhstan, State Prize laureate Maira Mukhamedkyzy, the Honored Artist of Kazakhstan Zhannat Baktai, Aidar - the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Nurlan Bekmukhambetov, international competitions laureate Meir Bainesh; Azim - Beimbet Tanarykov, Ramzat Balakishiyev; Zhirenshe - Yevgeny Chainikov, Kazbek Dosmukhambetov; Karlygash - international competitions laureates Tatyana Vitsinskaya, Malika Minisini; Kokbai - Talgat Galeyev, Yerzhan Saipov; Syrttan - the People's Artist of Armenia Barseg Tumanyan, Bolat Yessimkhanov; Narymbet - Ramzat Balakishiyev, Yerulan Kamel; Mes - Shyngys Rassylkhan, Haidar Mustapin. The symphony orchestra will be led by the great-grandson of Akhmet Zhubanov - renowned maestro, the Music Director of this production, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, the Principal Conductor of the Astana Opera Alan Buribayev.
On November 10, the collective of the Astana Opera will continue the tour program with Symphony No. 9 by L. van Beethoven. The choral finale of the symphony, written to the text of Schiller's An die Freude (Ode to Joy), discloses the idea of the piece to the fullest. At one time, the censorship conditions forced the poet to replace the real name of the ode An die Freiheit (Ode to Freedom) with a more neutral Ode to Joy. Soprano - the Honored Artist of Kazakhstan Zhannat Baktai, mezzo-soprano - the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Dina Khamzina, international competitions laureate Tatyana Vitsinskaya, tenor - the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Nurlan Bekmukhambetov, baritone - the Honored Workers of Kazakhstan Talgat Mussabayev and Sundet Baigozhin. Conductor - a representative of the Viennese classical conducting school Alan Buribayev, who studied in Vienna, the city where Beethoven lived and worked.
This is not our first performance at the famous Teatro Carlo Felice, which is an honor for any singer. Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 was presented here in 2015 featuring the Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Teatro Carlo Felice under the baton of British conductor Jonathan Webb. This is a rather difficult work to perform; I first got to know it 15 years ago. The harmonious work of soloists, choir singers, orchestra musicians is important here - the performers should be as an organic whole. We have confidence in a successful performance, because the last time we were called 4 times for an encore, but it is too early to relax, and now this is a certain challenge for us. We will be performing once again in front of a sophisticated audience, who is very well versed in music, representing our vocal school. We want everything to be at the highest level, so we must brilliantly show our skills and talents," noted the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Talgat Mussabayev.
The performance will also feature choir singers of the Astana Opera and the Teatro Carlo Felice under the leadership of the Principal Choirmaster of the Astana Opera, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Dautov.
Source: Kazinform News Agency
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