Exciting Events of Astana Opera’s 11th Season

The season began with the premiere of the ballet La Sylphide by Herman Severin Løvenskiold. For four days, from September 29 to October 3, the audience had the opportunity to appreciate the work of completely different casts of performers, which demonstrated the diversity of the opera house’s talents, El.kz cites astanaopera.kz.

In April of this year, the opera company presented the premiere of Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera Il Campanello at the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall. The audience greeted the production with great enthusiasm. 

In addition, the premieres of national ballet numbers staged by Kazakh choreographers were held at Astana Opera’s Grand Hall, emphasizing the importance of supporting and developing national culture. 

Let’s Hit the Road…

The opera house’s touring period was no less impressive. It began in September last year with a tour to Georgia, significant for Astana Opera. The concert Steppe Melodies in Tbilisi was a tremendous success at the Shota Rustaveli National State Academic Theatre. The audience warmly greeted the Kazakh artists, and their performance became an important cultural event for both countries. 

In November, the opera company and the orchestra went to Moscow, where they took part in the 8^th International Musical Theatre Festival “Seeing Music”. The performance of Gioachino Rossini’s La Scala di Seta attracted a full house and received high praise from music critics, confirming the professionalism and talent of Astana Opera’s artists. 

December was a time of new achievements: the opera house’s ballet company and symphony orchestra performed for the first time in Dubai at the special invitation of the general management of Dubai Opera, where the tour performances took place. The program featured Handel’s oratorio Messiah together with choir artists from the United Arab Emirates. and five performances of Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. This event not only expanded the geography of the opera house’s performances, but also strengthened its international standing. 

The Astana Opera Choir also left its mark on the cultural life of our country. Under the leadership of the principal choirmaster, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Dautov, the artists performed on tour in Qaraghandy. On May 25, the creative team presented Puccini’s work Messa di Gloria in the Shalqyma Concert Hall.

The string of touring ended with the ballet company’s performances at the 72^nd International Ljubljana Festival in Slovenia. The Astana Opera Ballet presented Khachaturian’s legendary ballet Spartacus, which elicited rave reviews from viewers and critics, adding another bright page to the opera house’s history. 

Astana Opera also hosted famous guests on its stage. On November 22, 2023, Alisher Navoi State Academic Bolshoi Theatre from Uzbekistan presented a large-scale Gala Concert with opera and ballet numbers, which were enjoyed by residents and guests of the capital. 

The theatrical season at Astana Opera was marked by interesting performances by guest stars. On February 17, Honoured Artist of Uzbekistan Madina Faizieva gave a recital dedicated to the 150^th anniversary of the great composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. Her virtuoso performance of piano works captivated the audience and left an unforgettable impression. 

A little later, on April 16, the stage of the same hall received the young Parisian singer, composer and guitarist Gabi Hartmann. Accompanied by musicians Elaine Beaumont (double bass), Bruno Marmey (percussion), and Florian Robin (piano), Gabi presented an original program filled with a unique combination of vocals and instrumental music. The concert became a real celebration for modern musical art connoisseurs. 

Our Achievements

One of the memorable events was the Second Umai National Award in the field of art, established by the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan. The ceremony took place at Astana Opera, confirming the importance of such award competitions in the country’s cultural life. 

The season was not without prizes. The opera house’s productions won in various categories at the Seventh Kazakhstani Ticketon Award in the field of culture, art and sports. The large-scale national opera production Qyz Zhibek by Yevgeniy Brussilovsky to Gabit Musrepov’s libretto was awarded the title of Opera of the Year. The spectacular choreographic canvas Beethoven – Immortal – Love, staged by Raimondo Rebeck, received the Ballet of the Year award. The talented soloist of the Astana Opera Ballet Shugyla Adepkhan not only became Ballerina of the Year, but also the leader in the total number of votes in all nominations, which emphasized her high skill and the love of the audience. 

This season was also a triumph for Astana Opera’s young soloists, who won awards at prestigious international competitions. Dinmukhamed Koshkinbayev became a laureate of the Opera Crown Tbilisi International Vocal Competition and received special prizes: participation in a concert in Budapest and in a production at the Zacharia Paliashvili Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theatre. His successes did not end there: he also won the Big Opera International TV Project on the Kultura TV channel, captivating both the professional jury and television viewers with his talent and charisma. 

The opera house’s ballet dancer Kuat Karibayev also achieved significant success, becoming a 1^stdegree laureate in the Choreography category at the “Odyssey-Arts” International Multi-Genre Art Olympics in Russia. His performance was marked for high skill and artistic expressiveness. 

The final chord of victories was the participation of Astana Opera’s soloists in the First Nurzhamal Ussenbayeva International Vocal Competition, where Rassul Zharmagambetov won the Grand Prix. His powerful voice and profound performance won the hearts of the jury and the audience. The second prize was awarded to Firuza Rakhmetova, the Astana Opera International Opera Academy attendee, and the opera company soloist Ulpan Aubakirova won third place. 

Among other things, the opera house supports young talents and gives the opportunity to perform at the capital’s stage venue for such wonderful musicians as Meruert Karmenova, winner of one of the most prestigious musical competitions – the 16^th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań. Astana Opera also held concerts of laureates of many international competitions Bekzat Rakymov (Moscow/Almaty) and Alexander Kutuzov (Almaty/Moscow). 

Strengthening the Public Standing of the Opera House Abroad

In addition to significant victories and awards received, the artists brought glory to the opera house abroad. The opera house’s principal conductor Alan Buribayev conducted a series of ten performances of Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin that took place from February 9 to March 19, 2024, at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. In addition to this, Maestro Buribayev presented the premiere of Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov and Prokofiev’s opera War and Peace in the capital of Hungary, Budapest, receiving high praise from critics and viewers. 

Astana Opera soloist Azat Malik performed in Budapest. At the invitation of the Hungarian State Opera, he took the stage as Schaunard with great success in a series of performances of Puccini’s La Bohème. 

The Astana Opera Ballet dancers also cut brilliant figures on the international arena. Principal dancer Bakhtiyar Adamzhan and talented ballet soloist Anastasia Zaklinskaya took part in the premiere of Roland Petit’s ballet Le Jeune Homme et la Mortin Geneva. Also, Bakhtiyar Adamzhan, but this time with the opera house’s principal dancer Aigerim Beketayeva, successfully performed at the Gala Ballet in the historical Kourion Ancient Amphitheatre in Cyprus. Their performance of the pas de deux from Riccardo Drigo’s Le Talismanand Aram Khachaturian’s Spartacus made a huge impression on the Cypriot audience. 

All to the Festival

Particular attention was paid to supporting and developing young talents. Bala Music Fest, held at the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall, brought together children from different regions of Kazakhstan. The concept of this republican festival was to open the doors into the world of professional art to young performers, inspire them to be creative and support them in their musical development. 

Astana Opera also offered classical music aficionados the Double Reed festival, which has already become a tradition at the opera house. 

Everyone looked forward to the Operaliya International Music Festival, which opened in the capital on May 31, because this much-anticipated festival is always one of the biggest events of the summer. More than twenty exciting events featuring famous artists from different countries were presented at Astana Opera with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan. The cultural marathon, uniting art from different eras, continued until July 13, offering viewers a rich program of opera and ballet productions as well as concert performances.

Good Deeds 

Astana Opera left a significant mark on the lives of people of Kazakhstan not only with its creative successes, but also with its charitable deeds. A large-scale charity project Children and Art was implemented at the beginning of this year. It covered orphanages and low-income families from all over Kazakhstan. On April 2, on World Autism Awareness Day, the opera house together with the Abaqus-Daryn Educational Foundation held a traditional charity concert The Sun Shines for Everyone. On this day, special-needs children took the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall stage to demonstrate their skills. 

The opera house staff also sent humanitarian aid to flood victims, demonstrating their social responsibility. 

Summarizing the results of the season, it can be noted that Astana Opera has achieved impressive results. In total, about 90 thousand viewers came to the opera house during the season, 261 events were held, including 54 ballets, 59 operas (43 of them at the Grand Hall), 93 concerts and 16 piccolo operas at the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall. 55 exhibitions dedicated to repertoire productions, image events, as well as children’s creativity, which also has its place at Astana Opera, adorned the opera house foyer. Thus, children studying at the Theatrical Crafts Studio held two significant exhibitions – for Nauryz and for International Children’s Day. Overall, the choir, ballet and theatrical crafts divisions of the Children’s Studio are successfully functioning at the opera house. 504 press releases were published in the mass media in three languages and about 5 thousand materials were released by representatives of Kazakh and foreign media, which indicates a high interest in the opera house’s work. 

Thus, Astana Opera’s 11^th theatrical season was full of exciting premieres, successful tours and significant cultural events that left an unforgettable mark on the opera house’s history and in the viewers’ hearts. Ahead, during the off-season, meetings with guest performers, Korea National Contemporary Dance Company and Qaraghandy Academic Musical Comedy Theatre, await the capital’s audience. In addition, the doors of the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall will be open during the off-season.