A very special International Music Day awaits high art aficionados at Astana Opera in early October: this year, the celebration will be held as part of the 10th anniversary season. Bright, rich program with many surprises for both adults and children was prepared for the listeners at the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall.
“Ten years is a significant time and within this period the opera house’s artists, stage directors, designers and musicologists have done tremendous work. A major event was the opening of the Teatro Piccolo. As part of this project, several premieres of opera buffa masterpieces took place with great success. This year, declared the Year of Children by the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Week of Classical Music for Children festival was opened for young theatregoers. Every season, there are new and varied concerts in our hall that touch the listeners’ hearts. Artists and creative teams from all over Kazakhstan and from all around the world perform here with great pleasure. It is very important that over ten years we have formed our own repertoire, our own audience and we recognize the faces of people who come to enjoy the performances of their favorite artists. For the sake of this goal, we are ready to work tirelessly for several more decades. Today I want to congratulate everyone on a wonderful holiday – the International Music Day. Let the music surround you, creating a space of love and beauty, let it give you vitality and energy, fill you with optimism, good mood and faith in a wonderful future, inspire you to new achievements and victories,” Marzhan Zhakenova, the head of the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall, director of Astana Opera’s Literary and Musical Work Department, noted.
On October 1, the opera house’s Chamber Orchestra and famous violinists of the Kazakh school – Astana Opera’s principal first violin, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Bagdat Abilkhanov as well as a guest from the USA Vladimir Dyo – a voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYs), will take the stage in a festive concert Time of Music, dedicated to the International Music Day. Virtuoso musicians will perform Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E flat major and Violin Concertos No. 3 G major and No. 5 in A major.
On October 5, the opera house’s creative team will bring the audience inexhaustible joy, humour and spirit in the comic performance of Gaetano Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. A witty production about the union of a wealthy bachelor of venerable age and the resourceful young widow Norina will be vividly presented by the Astana Opera’s soloists, orchestra, choir and supernumeraries. The music director and conductor – the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Abzal Mukhitdin, conductor – the Cavalier of the Order of Qurmet Ruslan Baimurzin, artistic director of the production – Ala Simonishvili, set and costume designer – Manana Gunia, stage director – Yerenbak Toikenov, principal choirmaster – the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Dautov, the opera company director – the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Professor Azamat Zheltyrguzov.
On October 11, the opera house’s brilliant soloists – soprano singers the Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan Saltanat Akhmetova and Zhamilya Jarkimbayeva, the Honoured Artist of Kazakhstan Galiya Baigazinova, as well as Assem Sembina, Nazym Sagintai, mezzo-soprano Tatyana Vitsinskaya, tenor Artur Gabdiyev, baritone Yerzhan Saipov, and guest soloist bass Armin Babayan will perform in the concert You Talk to Me about Love. The vocalists will perform songs and art songs by Kazakh and foreign composers. The Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan pianist Raushan Beskembirova will be performing together with the singers.
On October 14, well-known artists – the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan pianist Timur Urmancheyev, violinist Maxat Jussupov and cellist Murat Narbekov will present to the audience exquisite chamber-instrumental works by French authors Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy at the musical evening Moonlight.
On October 19, in the concert Together with the Harp, the artists of the Astana Opera Orchestra will present an extraordinary program of works by composers of the 20th century and contemporary authors in a wide variety of musical styles. The harpist Ainur Kamalova, flutist Khadisha Yelibayeva, clarinetist Dias Muratov, bassoonist Rinat Isakov and a string quartet consisting of: Assya Nurzhigitova, Aiya Gabbasova (violins), Zhanar Abdrakhmanova (viola), Magzhan Sagadi (cello) will take the stage.
A major event of the month will be the concert-presentation Viva Celli of the eponymous cello ensemble, which will take place on October 28. The collective under the leadership of the Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, the opera house’s principal cello Daulet Shakirov includes symphony orchestra musicians Botagoz Kaliyeva, Azhar Kadyrova, Balzhan Kudiyarova, Kurvanzhan Akhatov, Aidar Kazken, Nurislambek Dzhumatov, Magzhan Sagadi. In addition to the works by Handel, Vivaldi, Villa-Lobos, Ravel, Piazzolla, Yestai’s Kusni-Korlan, as well as Prelude and Scherzo by Daulet Shakirov will be performed.
The solemn concert Kulyash’s Song will be dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the Honoured Artist of Kazakhstan, People’s Artist of the USSR, State Prizes laureate Kulyash Baiseitova. On October 29, works from the wide repertoire of the legendary Kazakh opera singer will be performed by the opera house’s soloists, the Astana Opera International Opera Academy attendees and guest artists from regional philharmonics. The evening’s organizer is the Vocalists’ Union of Kazakhstan.
According to the good tradition of the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall, special attention has been paid to the children’s audience: an interesting program was prepared for them. On October 2, the littlest listeners will get acquainted with the art of academic vocals at the concert Musical Diversity of Voices. Musicologist Saule Mauletova will talk about all types of operatic voices, from soprano to bass, while opera soloists and young choir singers of the Astana Opera Children’s Studio will clearly demonstrate the amazing capabilities and incredible beauty of the human voice, performing popular arias and duets from famous classical works. Concertmaster – Raushan Beskembirova, head of the children’s choir – Altynganym Akhmetova.
Prokofiev’s symphonic fairytale Peter and the Wolf, which will take place on October 16, will continue the children’s repertoire of the month. Together with the narrator, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, People’s Artist of Kyrgyzstan Sergey Matveyev, and the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ruslan Baimurzin, the children will discover the world of sounds of musical instruments, each of which will represent different characters of an engrossing fairytale – Peter and his Grandfather, the Wolf, the Hunters, the Cat, the Duck and the Bird.