For Astana Opera, 2024 was an exciting and eventful year, presenting premieres, tour performances and other memorable events that left their mark in the history of the cultural life of the capital,El.kz cites astanaopera.kz.
In April, the opera house presented the premiere of Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera Il Campanello at the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall. The lightness of the music and effervescent humour of the production delighted the audience. One of the most famous operas of the Baroque era, Antonio Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso, premiered a few months later. Incidentally, this opera was staged in our country for the first time. The traditional plot was rethought in an unusual setting with the events of the opera taking place in an alchemist’s laboratory.
There is no question that the main event of the year was the premiere of the first national comic opera, Sydyq Mukhamedzhanov’s Aisulu, dedicated to the composer’s centenary. The production received high praise. Professor Umitzhan Dzhumakova, Ph.D. in Art History, said in her review: “The music of the opera, with its national melodic zest, reflecting intrinsic speech intonations, opens up space for conveying in the performance folk life, full of resourcefulness, courage and faith in positivity. The production is abundant with staging diversity in the rethinking of wit and eloquence, amply represented in the songwriting of aqyns and zhyraus, in proverbs and sayings. As in the satirical poetry and humorous literature of the twentieth century, the traditions of folk humour acquire new meanings in this opera. Today, laughter and applause did not cease in the auditorium. Judging by this reaction, the adventures of a couple and ordinary people’s lives are perceived very cheerily, as one’s own, native and beloved.” There is no doubt that this opera will live on in the opera house’s repertoire for many years.
There were also some new offerings among the ballet productions. These include the large-scale national number RUH to the music by Hassak ensemble. The choreographer was the opera house’s young up-and-coming soloist Sultanbek Gumar. His works, such as Mangurt, have already become landmark for the ballet company. Aidan Kalzhan, another representative of the new generation of Kazakh choreographers, presented Temptation to Vittorio Monti’s music. It is clear from this that the opera house actively supports young choreographers, giving them the opportunity to reveal their creative ambitions.
In addition, this year the opera house’s creative teams actively toured: the Astana Opera Ballet successfully performed in Slovenia Khachaturian’s legendary Spartacus, staged by Yuri Grigorovich, as part of the International Festival Ljubljana. The opera house’s choir under the direction of the principal choirmaster Yerzhan Dautov, gave a memorable concert in Qaraghandy, and the opera company soloists captivated the audience in Shymkent.
The tour to the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, where the company presented the opera Abai by Akhmet Zhubanov and Latif Khamidi, became important. The grand success in Moscow cemented the international status of Astana Opera as the main opera house in the country. This is also confirmed by numerous critic reviews: “Astana Opera demonstrated a high level of performance. Elmar Buribayev’s bright and high-quality orchestra and Yerzhan Dautov’s incredibly powerful choir with a fundamental and rich sound gave the performance a solid foundation and the epic scope needed here. The soloists cut brilliant figures against this background. As expected, the high voices of Kazakhs are the most winning: lilting coloratura Saltanat Akhmetova (Azhar) and a great multitude of bright tenors (Meir Bainesh – Aidar, Beimbet Tanarykov – Azim, Ramzat Balakishiyev – Narymbet) could not leave anyone indifferent. Baritone Talgat Mussabayev performed the title role nobly and sagely, authentically portraying the legendary educator of the Kazakh people,” the famous music critic Alexander Matusevich wrote in his review on the pages of the Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The culmination of the touring year was the performances of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the Dubai Opera in an important cultural, economic and tourist centre of the world – Dubai. The company demonstrated impeccably high technique and expressiveness, giving 6 sold-out performances over four days.
Continuing the topic of numbers, in 2024, the opera house held more than 250 events, including opera and ballet performances, concerts and master classes. These are not only premieres, tours, but also festivals, which strengthen cultural ties and invariably inspire audiences and artistsalike. We emphasize that over 100 thousand viewers attended events at the opera house over the course of the year.
Every year, Astana Opera raises the bar, not remaining complacent and satisfied with what has already been achieved. 2024 became an example of how to expand creative boundaries and inspire people from different cities and countries. Well, the new year 2025 promises to be no less exciting, with engrossing premieres and captivating projects.