ASTANA – A Grand Gala Ballet featuring Astana Opera artists and renowned artists from Teatro di San Carlo opera house in Naples, Italy was held Oct. 29 at the capital’s opera theatre, according to the press service of Astana Opera.
Photo from astanaopera.kz
Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra accompanied the concert with conductor Arman Urazgaliyev. Six soloists represented Teatro di San Carlo; two of them, Antonella Albano and Maurizio Licitra, are guest stars from the Milanese Tearo alla Scala.
“Striking ballet pairs from the Neapolitan Teatro di San Carlo – Anna Chiara Amirante and Alessandro Staiano, Claudia D’Antonio and Salvatore Manzo performed classical and modern choreography,” the theatre’s press release states.
For the first time, Astana’s audience saw “Black Stone,” “ASSURD,” “Cantata,” “TangOnPoint” and others.
“Anna Chiara Amirante and Alessandro Staiano performed a modern piece by talented Italian choreographer Gianluca Schiavoni – ‘Black Stone’. Sensuality of bodies combined with physical strength make a true gem of this fragment. Another interesting performance ‘Carmina Burana’ performed by Claudia D’Antonio and Salvatore Manzo is a stunning burst of energy. Their movements are incredibly ductile. Here, a particular emphasis is given to facial and body expressions,” the management of Teatro di San Carlo noted, according to astanaopera.kz.
“We are happy to see our friends from Teatro di San Carlo. They have already performed with the entire corps de ballet, the Giselle ballet on our stage before. It is very important for us, artists, sharing experiences, receiving positive emotions, because we then pass it on to our grateful audience,” Kazakhstan’s Honoured Worker Tair Gatauov said.
The capital’s residents and guests also saw performances of Astana Opera artists. Recent winners of International Ballet Competition Bakhtiyar Adamzhan and Serik Nakyspekov perform modern pieces from their competition at the Gala, the report says.
New soloist of “Astana Opera” ballet Olzhas Tarlanov debuted as Prince Siegfried. Along with leading soloist Aigerim Beketayeva, he performed Pas de Deux dance duet of Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” ballet.
Leading soloists, Kazakhstan’s Honoured Worker Madina Basbayeva and Anel Rustemova presented their art to an audience. While the nation’s honoured workers Gaukhar Usina and Zhandos Aubakirov presented something rarely performed at Astana Opera, duet from Frédéric Chopin’s “Ghost Ball” ballet, choreography by Dmitry Bryantsev.
People’s Artist of Russia Altynai Assylmuratova is an Artistic Director of Astana Opera ballet. The Gala Ballet was held as part of Italian Culture Days in Kazakhstan with support from an Italian Embassy.
