This weekend May 18-19, Astana Opera will enchant the capital’s audience with a renowned ballet piece Notre-Dame de Paris by Roland Petit, QazMonitor reports citing the press service of Astana Opera.
Ballet: Roland Petit's choreographic adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, complemented by Maurice Jarre's music and costumes by Yves Saint Laurent, portrays the story of Esmeralda. Set in the streets of Paris, it follows her journey as she becomes the object of affection for three men – the strict priest Claude Frollo, the kind-hearted bell-ringer Quasimodo, and the handsome Captain Phoebus.
Since it premiered in 1967 at the Opéra National de Paris, the work of Roland Petit has been a staple at prestigious venues worldwide, interpreted by top ballet companies. Not every troupe is granted the privilege to stage this ballet; they must showcase exceptional professionalism and acting prowess to secure the rights for their repertoire.
The Kazakh premiere of the ballet by Astana Opera in 2016 was a big success, loved not only by the capital’s audience but also applauded at the Abay Opera House in Almaty, and St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre.
The current production at Astana Opera is a collaboration with the Les Ballets Roland Petit Foundation in France, showcasing the talents of ballet master Luigi Bonino, as well as production coordinator and lighting designer Jean-Michel Désiré.
I am happy to come back to Kazakhstan, to Astana, with this beautiful ballet, and to work with the Astana Opera Ballet Company and its artistic director Altynai Asylmuratova. She is a good friend of mine and makes me feel at home. I am very pleased with the production of the ballet Notre-Dame de Paris that runs at Astana Opera. The dancers already know the style of Roland Petit very well and do an excellent job with it, but it is really difficult to perform since it is strikingly different from the classical dance technique. Of course, we have the principals, and they are fantastic. Like the amazing Bakhtiyar Adamzhan, who has already performed a lot of ballets by Roland Petit and danced this ballet many times, even in Italy. I am happy to know that the Kazakh audience loves the ballet Notre-Dame de Paris and Roland Petit would be very happy too.
Soloists: The symphony orchestra, ballet company, choir, and supernumeraries of Astana Opera will perform under the baton of Ruslan Baimurzin. Aigerim Beketayeva and Madina Unerbayeva will portray the tender Esmeralda, Bakhtiyar Adamzhan and Serik Nakyspekov will take the stage as Quasimodo, while Arman Urazov and Aibar Toktar will assume the role of Frollo. Lastly, Dias Kurmangazy and Yerkin Rakhmatullayev will fulfill the role of Phoebus.
Address: The ballet is scheduled for May 18–19 at 6 p.m. at Astana Opera, located at Dinmukhamed Qonayev Street 1.
