October 2014
My first visit to the new, lavish Opera
& Ballet Theatre of Astana, Kazakhstan, was to a concert in its
Chamber Hall. The Chamber Hall is a smallish room, lavishly
decorated with painted horses on the ceiling.
This event was a fantastic experience,
and I only wish I'd had the foresight to take Sophia with me! But
you never know ahead of time...
The first half consisted of short
pieces, usually with only a few musicians, usually showing off a
particular kind of muscial instrument. There was a “contest”
between two violinists, wherein they each played a piece (separately)
named after an insect (such as a bee), and they had a time limit.
The conductor put his computer on stage and set the timer. They had
to beat the timer. One guy almost made it, he was a few seconds
short. But the second guy beat it.
Then, a small group played “In the
Hall of the Mountain King” by Edward Grieg. The lights were
dimmed, and they came on slowly, with makeup on (maybe to look like
trolls?) and one wore a fake crown.
I don't know my musical instruments
well, I think another group consisted of cello players. They seemed
to have a blast playing, smiling and laughing as they twirled their
cellos.
Before the intermission, the conductor
explained that for the final piece, the entire orchestra was needed
and there just wasn't enough room on stage. So the people in the
first row had to move. During intermission, they moved chairs to
ground level. We were in the second row, so this meant we were
extremely close to the musicans.
They played “Carmen Suite” by
Shchedrin, music based on the opera “Carmen” by Bizet. I love
the opera, but had never heard this version before, and was quite
enthralled.
Overall, this experience at the Opera
Theatre was quite marvelous. The musicians were quite happy and
thrilled to be there, the music itself filled the air, and the
setting (Chamber Hall) was exquisite.
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| The gorgeous ceiling in the Chamber Hall |
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| Playing "Carmen Suite" - so close! |
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| The exquisite entrance hall to the Opera & Ballet Theatre |
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