The Astana Opera theatre
completed its 10th season with a unique symphony concert. The program of the
anniversary evening, which also closed the Operaliya festival, was prepared by
maestro Alan Buribayev. He staged the premiere of the Symphonic Suite from the
opera Qurmanghazy by Akhmet Zhubanov and Gaziza Zhubanova for the first time on
the theatre’s stage. The second part of the concert featured works by Antonín
Dvořák and Gustav Mahler. According to Buribayev, this repertoire fully
reflects one of the main activities of the capital’s theatre, which is primarily
support of the country’s national art. As the maestro noted, the suite involved
several symphonic excerpts from the national opera, with percussion musical
instruments such as tom-tom, bongos, vibraphone and xylophone bringing a
special zest. Invited guest Jing Zhao performed the cello compositions.
“I previously worked with her in
Japan, and I am very glad that she accepted the invitation to play with us in
Astana. Now we are going to perform Dvořák’s large-scale cello concerto with
her, one might say, one of the top five most important concerts for a cellist. I
think the theatrical season was eventful. We are delightful and happy to close
the season after a lot of work done here over ten years, during which the
theatre witnessed many new performances, many interesting artists and other achievements,”
said Alan Buribayev, Honored Figure of Kazakhstan and Astana Opera’s principal
conductor.
