Skip to content

Opera Turandot to Be Featured at the Zhibek Zholy Festival

Giacomo Puccini’s legendary opera Turandot will be presented at Astana Opera as part of the Zhibek Zholy International Festival on November 29 and 20. Guest soloists, famous artists Oksana Kramareva (Ukraine-Germany), Hovhannes Ayvazyan (Armenia), Libuse Santorisova (Czech Republic), will perform for the capital’s audience. World-renowned Maestro Alan Buribayev will be conducting. 

The story of the cruel Princess Turandot, who arranged deadly trials for her suitors and whose heart only the mysterious Prince Calaf was able to conquer, will be of interest to all opera art aficionados. 

On the first day, the Honoured Artist of Armenia Hovhannes Ayvazyan will perform Calaf, the son of the deposed King of Tartary. After graduating from Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory, the singer became a soloist of the Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Yerevan. Since 2013, he has been performing at the Mariinsky Theatre. As a guest soloist, he performed at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa in Warsaw, Oper Frankfurt and other major international venues. In 2017, he performed Radamès in Verdi’s Aida at the Arena di Verona Opera Festival. The artist’s portfolio includes striking performances in Verdi’s operas – Manrico in Il Trovatore, Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino, the titular character in Don Carlos and many others. 

“For me, the opera Turandot is, first and foremost, a fairytale, where good always triumphs over evil,” Hovhannes Ayvazyan notes. “Calaf is slightly different from the parts that I usually perform. This is a heroic figure. He does everything for his beloved and even faces certain death. This part is considered one of the most difficult for tenors because of the high tessitura. Therefore it requires good technique and vocal skills. Another feature is that the orchestra plays in unison with the soloist, which also makes it difficult to perform. For Puccini, this is a rather characteristic technique.”

According to the singer, he has never been to Kazakhstan, but has heard a lot about the capital’s opera house.

“I look forward to the opportunity to see Kazakhstan and perform at Astana Opera. I am excited to take this new stage that has already become revered,” Hovhannes Ayvazyan emphasized. “I am always very reverent about my profession and strive to demonstrate the maximum of my capabilities. It is important for me that after the performance the audience leaves in a good mood and with good impressions. I hope that this is what will happen.”

On November 20, soloist of the National Opera of Urkaine Oksana Kramareva will perform one of the most difficult parts in the world operatic repertoire, Turandot, a capricious and ruthless princess who cruelly takes revenge on men.

Having started her career at the Kharkiv Opera (Ukraine) in 2004, Oksana Kramareva soon continued her singing career at the National Opera of Urkaine in Kyiv. The vocalist’s extensive repertoire includes such roles as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Lisa in The Queen of Spades, Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Elisabetta in Don Carlos, Yaroslavna in Borodin’s Prince Igor and many others. Oksana Kramareva is a laureate of a number of international competitions, including Plácido Domingo’s Operalia, the World Opera Competition in Quebec.

As a reminder, the opera Turandot was presented at Astana Opera for the first time on June 22 and 23, 2018. The music director and conductor is the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the opera house’s principal conductor Alan Buribayev. The stage director is Davide Livermore, who received the Opera Star-2019 International Opera Award as the best director of the year for productions at Astana Opera. Set and costume designers – the Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan Sofya Tasmagambetova and Pavel Dragunov. Principal choirmaster – the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Dautov.

On the first day, the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Zhupar Gabdullina will perform Turandot, Liù – the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Saltanat Akhmetova, the Emperor Altoum – Ruslan Sovet, Timur – Bolat Yessimkhanov, Calaf – Hovhannes Ayvazyan, Ping – Rassul Zharmagambetov, Pang – Artur Gabdiyev, Pong – Beimbet Tanarykov, Mandarin – Shyngys Rassylkhan.

On November 20, Oksana Kramareva will take the stage as Turandot, Liù – Libushe Santorisova (Czech Republic), the Emperor Altoum – Ruslan Sovet, Timur – Talgat Galeyev, Calaf – Sayan Issin (role debut), Ping – Rassul Zharmagambetov, Pang – Yerulan Kamel, Pong – Beimbet Tanarykov, Mandarin – Shyngys Rassylkhan.

As part of the Zhibek Zholy festival, taking place as part of Astana Opera’s 10th anniversary season, the audience will have an opportunity to view masterpieces of theatrical art featuring foreign guest stars: Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Swan Lake, Gala Ballet and Jiří Kylián’s ballet Sechs Tänze to Mozart’s music, Aram Khachaturian’s Spartacus in Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography, as well as a gala concert conducted by Giuseppe Acquaviva. 

Published in News