An incredibly winning fusion of a contemporary story, enchanting music and the highest skills of soloists. The Astana Opera presented the performance of the legendary Gioachino Rossini’s ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’ for the first time in the Kazakh capital. The premiere, which drew a storm of applause, is a debut work by young Kazakh director Yerenbak Toikenov presented at the Astana Opera theater.
“It is one of the biggest plays written in 500 pages, which consists of two acts and lasts three hours. It is our first show made in a modern way and with modern costumes. Previously, we have always staged historical productions based on historical facts. Another feature is that the play was created completely by the domestic team, which makes it a Kazakh brand product,” said Yerenbak Toikenov.
The contrast of cultures, performers’ acting, and the subtle humor often used by Gioachino Rossini in his works, inspired Italian costume designer Manana Gunia to create incredible scenic images for theater performers. A total of 70 costumes were created not only for soloists, but also for the choir and mime artists.
“We started working on the production in May. I would like to highlight the supreme professionalism of the sewing department, which masterfully produced a huge number of costumes in record time. This titanic work was performed at the European level. There have been talks about staging the wonderful opera by Rossini since 2020, and now we finally have an opportunity to perform this production on the big stage. I am very happy that this project has finally come to life,” said Manana Gunia.
The audience was fascinated by the skills of the soloists. The main role of Isabella, an Italian girl captured by an Algerian bei, according to the plot, was played by two female vocalists. It was performed by guest soloist Laura Verrecchia and Astana Opera Academy soloist Elmira Shpekpayeva. The male role of Mustafa Bey was played by Zhandarbek Yerkinbayev and Shyngys Rassylkhan.
