Climbing the Silken Ladder towards Secrets
The new project Piccolo Theatre or Little Theatre will be presented at the Astana Opera Chamber Hall. It will open with the premiere of Gioachino Rossini’s one-act operatic farsa comica La Scala di Seta (The Silken Ladder), which will be held with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan as part of the Year of Youth on April 6 and 7.
The opera is set in the eighteenth century. The action revolves around Giulia, who secretly married her beloved Dorvil. In order to get to his wife, the husband uses a ladder made of silk, which she lowers down to him from her window. Giulia’s guardian, old Dormont, unaware of her marriage, is trying to marry her off to Blansac. Misunderstandings that keep occurring are happily resolved in the end.
“We will show the Venice carnival. Naples and Venice are the very places where carnival and folk characters of the comic opera were born. Each of these characters had their own cliché, persona and function. The Set and Costume Designer used these criteria when creating the costumes. Masks will complement the characters’ appearances, because Venice and the carnival do not exist without masks. This is a full one-act performance, in which characters infect everyone with their vivacity, getting into amusing situations. All this turns into an interesting story where love triumphs. The function of this opera is to create merriment. However, it is very difficult to show humor onstage, therefore, the artists must possess acting skills. In the comic opera, soloists need to convey joy, have a sense of humor, so that the audience members who do not know Italian language can understand what is happening onstage through reaction, facial expressions, movements and communication between vocalists,” the Stage Director Ala Simonishvili (Italy) explained.
Together with her, Music Director and Conductor – Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Abzal Mukhitdinov, Set and Costume Designer – Manana Gunia (Italy), Project Technical Director – Viсtor Carare, Project Coordinator – Marzhan Zhakenova, Assistant Costume Designers – Zhanar Mominova, Aizhan Khamzina are working on the production.
“The opera La Scala di Seta is easily perceived by the audience, despite certain performing difficulties. This is a very good school for young singers. Of course, the Astana Opera works towards the ‘large-scale’ repertoire, staging works from the grand opera era. I think that implementing a new project is a great idea, because when there are monumental performances, there should be alternative productions for the audience who loves comedy and wants to see something different. In the Chamber Hall, you can see the artists’ work closely, practically taking part in the performance. Today we are accustomed to virtuality, we can get what we want at any moment, but listening to an opera recording is the same as listening to a canned product. The opera house is, first of all, the exchange of energy, which is very important,” Ala Simonishvili concluded.
Let us remind that the year 2019 is declared the Year of Youth, and the new project Piccolo Theatre is aimed at developing and supporting young talents. This is a creative laboratory where both the Astana Opera Soloists and aspiring Kazakhstani singers can realize their potential. Both young and experienced artists will participate in the premiere of the opera La Scala di Seta. On different days, the main parts will be performed by: Dormont – Ramzat Balakishiyev, Ruslan Sovet, Giulia – Honoured Artist of Kazakhstan Zhannat Baktay, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Saltanat Akhmetova, Honoured Artist of Bashkortostan Alfiya Karimova, Holder of the Order of Kurmet Aizada Kaponova. Lucilla – Saltanat Muratbekova, Malika Minisini. Dorvil – Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Zhan Tapin, Damir Saduakhassov, Germano – Honoured Workers of Kazakhstan Sundet Baigozhin, Azamat Zheltyrguzov, Blansac – Yevgeniy Chainikov, Yerzhan Saipov.
The performances will begin at 18.00
