Astana Opera to open its 13th season with Opera Abai
The creative team of the Astana Opera Theatre is preparing to open its 13th season on 6 and 7 September with the opera Abai by Akhmet Zhubanov and Latif Khamidi, with a libretto by Mukhtar Auezov, the theatre's press service reported.
These evenings will see the opera soloists, choir singers, ballet dancers and supernumeraries, and the symphony orchestra musicians perform under the baton of the opera house’s principal conductor, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan and State Prize laureate of Kazakhstan, Alan Buribayev.
The opening of a new season at Astana Opera is a major celebration not only for the company but also for all theatregoers. It is a wonderful occasion when residents of the capital and guests of the city once again immerse themselves in the atmosphere of their beloved opera house and reunite with the artists they have missed.
It is by no means accidental that the new 13th season of Astana Opera will open with the celebrated national opera Abai. On the one hand, this pays tribute to the great Abai Qunanbaiuly, whose 180th anniversary is being marked this year, and on the other – it is a symbolic date, for September also marks the 10th anniversary of Abai being staged at the capital’s opera house. In September 2015, this masterpiece of national classics was presented to the public in a new production by principal conductor Alan Buribayev and world-renowned stage director Giancarlo del Monaco. Three years later, the opera house was awarded the State Prize of Kazakhstan in the field of culture and art for this very production.
Abai is rightfully regarded as one of the pinnacles of national opera art. Last year the company successfully presented this opera at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as part of the International Festival “Seeing Music”. Over the years this national masterpiece has triumphed in Italy and Uzbekistan, winning the hearts of foreign audiences with its powerful artistry.
