Astana Opera: Winter Fairytale in the Desert
Astana Opera will perform in Dubai for the first time. The tour of the Kazakh opera house will take place from December 13 to 17 at the famous Dubai Opera. The program features Handel’s oratorio Messiah and Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, Kazinform News Agency cites Astana Opera’s press office.
“Briefly summing up the results of the year 2023, I can note that our ballet company successfully performed at the legendary Abai Opera House, and also toured Slovenia as part of the 71st Summer Ljubljana Festival. The premiere productions of Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort and Løvenskiold’s La Sylphide were added to our diverse repertoire. Performances at Dubai Opera complete the outgoing year. It is a great joy for us to present Kazakh ballet art at this beautiful stage venue. I am sure that this tour will inspire our dancers and give them the impetus to actively implement new projects,” Galym Akhmedyarov, General Director of Astana Opera, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, emphasized.
Dubai Opera is preparing to welcome Astana Opera’s talents on its stage. As the premiere performing arts centre in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai Opera has been proudly opening its doors to the world, embracing cultural diversity and delivering unparalleled performances since its inception in 2016.
Paolo Petrocelli, Head of Dubai Opera, expressed his excitement, stating, “We are thrilled to welcome the Astana Opera to Dubai for the first time. This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to showcasing excellence in music and ballet, further establishing Dubai as a cultural hub in the region.”
Thus, on December 13, at the suggestion of the Dubai Opera, Handel’s oratorio Messiah will open the tour program. Let us note that this famous work will be performed by the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra together with the creative team of the Dubai Festival Chorus, which includes talented vocalists from all over the United Arab Emirates, that is, it will be a joint project of teams from Kazakhstan and the UAE. Dubai Maestro Rob Johnston will conduct the performance.
On December 15, 16 and 17, the Astana Opera Ballet and Symphony Orchestra will present to the attention of the Dubai audience Tchaikovsky’s wonderful ballet The Nutcracker, staged by the outstanding choreographer Yuri Grigorovich. The production premiered at the Astana Opera on December 25, 2014. During the performance days, principal dancers, Honored Workers of Kazakhstan Aigerim Beketayeva, Madina Unerbayeva and soloist Shugyla Adepkhan will masterfully present the part of Marie, and principal dancers, Honored Workers of Kazakhstan, the famous dancer Bakhtiyar Adamzhan and Yerkin Rakhmatullayev will perform the part of the Nutcracker Prince. Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Abzal Mukhitdin and Italian Maestro Giuseppe Acquaviva will conduct the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra.
This magical ballet based on Hoffmann’s fairytale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is equally interesting for both children and adults. Children are attracted by bright toys that come to life, a Christmas tree lit with festive fairy lights, a mysterious figure of a wizard... Adults will hear not only happy harmony in Tchaikovsky’s brilliant music: Yuri Grigorovich, completely trusting the composer and his score, turned a sweet fairytale into philosophical reflections on the unattainability of ideal happiness. This is also a poetic story about the maturation of the soul, the premonition of love. The main character, and with her the little viewers, begin to understand that behind the funny appearance of the Nutcracker doll lies a kind, brave heart, and love and compassion for the toy turns into a meeting with the handsome Prince for the heroine. Even though it happens only in a dream...
Since the tour is a unique opportunity to introduce foreign audiences to Kazakh art, the ballet dancers and orchestra musicians are already carefully preparing in the rehearsal halls for an important performance at the Dubai Opera. There is no doubt that they will amaze the audience with their talent and professional skills and will increase the number of the Astana Opera’s fans abroad. Thus, the performance of the capital’s opera house in Dubai, which will be held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, will become the final tour of the Astana Opera in 2023, as well as a memorable event in the cultural life of both countries.