Time for Beautiful Voices - Christmas Day at Astana Opera

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM On Christmas Day, in anticipation of the New Year, the soloists of the Astana Opera International Opera Academy will present the concert Belle Voce, featuring world classical masterpieces. The festive program was prepared under the capable guidance of the famous singer, teacher, People’s Artist of Armenia Barseg Tumanyan, who has vast performing and teaching experience, the press office of Astana Opera informed.

For a month, the Maestro has been working with the Astana Opera International Opera Academy attendees as part of a master class and notes that young singers are very talented.

«The academy is doing the necessary job,» he emphasizes. «It is important that the guys get rid of stereotypes, find themselves, and find their own style, because in the opera world, individuality is valued above all. Everyone has it, but very often hidden deep inside, where it needs to be discovered and ‘set free’.»

According to Maestro Tumanyan, the performance of operatic works is not limited to the correct reproduction of notes and text. Of no small importance is familiarity with the era to which the opera belongs, and even the belonging of a particular hero to a certain social class.

«Knowledge of the language is not enough: you need not only to get into character, but also to immerse yourself in the century when the opera was written,» Barseg Tumanyan says. «There are big differences between the performance of an elite tragedy and a commoner’s aria. How you sing also depends on it. Soloists must understand that there is a vocal technique that provides instrumental singing, but this is only the basis on which French, Italian, Kazakh and other music with national characteristics is based.»

Incidentally, the academy’s soloists themselves took the initiative to invite this eminent performer. As Rassul Zharmagambetov emphasizes, he is immensely happy that he got the opportunity to study with a master who performs at the world’s most prestigious venues.

«To adopt the experience that Maestro Tumanyan shares with us is a great honor and joy. The academy management heard us by inviting him. I am very grateful for the opportunity,» the vocalist says. «Together with the Maestro, I am preparing the roles of Robert from Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta and Rodrigo di Posa from Verdi’s opera Don Carlos. I chose Rodrigo deliberately, knowing that Barseg Tumanyan would come, who performs this opera at Astana Opera and at the world’s main stage venues, including together with Placido Domingo. It is important for me to learn the interpretation from the master.»

Ulpan Aubakirova also appreciates the experience gained in the classes with the famous performer.

«I am grateful to the academy and the Maestro for a wonderful master class. I got a lot of useful vocal and technical experience,» she says. «At the concert I will perform Adriana’s aria from Francesco Cilea’s opera Adriana Lecouvreur. This is a new work in my repertoire, and Barseg Tumanyan helped me to prepare it. We worked on sound science, smoothing out the upper registers, and on pronunciation. The Maestro was very helpful in preparing Odabella’s romance from Verdi’s opera Attila and Fidelia’s aria from Puccini’s opera Edgar.»

The program of the concert will also include the following performances by the academy’s soloists: Marguerite’s Jewel Song from Gounod’s opera Faust, Figaro and Rosina’s duet and Bartolo’s aria from Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, a zarzuela from Ruperto Chapi’s Las Hijas del Zebedeo, Tonio’s aria from Donizetti’s opera La Fille du Régiment, Nadir’s romance from Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Mustafa and Lindoro’s duet from Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri and other famous works from the world opera repertoire.

The concert will take place at the Kulyash Baiseitova Chamber Hall on December 25 at 5 pm.

Photo: astanaopera.kz


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