The delegation of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre is back from Kazakhstan. The tour to Nur-Sultan was as part of the Russian theatres’ touring programme Big Tours, and it had conspicuous success among spectators.

On November 29, an international press conference opened the series of touring events. The following persons took part in it: Director of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre Svetlana Guziy, Artistic Director of the theatre, Honoured Artist of Russia Sergei Bobrov, a principal dancer of the theatre’s ballet company, winner of international competitions Elena Svinko, the soloist of the opera company, Honoured Artist of Buryatia Mikhail Pirogov. First Deputy Director of the Astana Opera Toleubek Alpiev talked with the media on behalf of the Astana Opera State Opera and Ballet Theatre.

The speakers presented the Krasnoyarsk Region, talked about the history and today's creative journey of the Krasnoyarsk Theatre, the productions of Prince Igor and Raymonda that would be performed out of Krasnoyarsk for the first time, the impressions about Nur-Sultan and the Astana Opera Theatre the speakers had gained. The soloists imparted several facts of their creative activities.

A significant part of the business programme was a tour of the republican musical theatres in Nur-Sultan including the Astana Ballet Theatre and the Kazakh National Academy of Choreography.

 The Krasnoyarsk delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Krasnoyarsk Region Olga Vasilyeva and the Director of the Krasnoyarsk Opera House Svetlana Guziy evinced a deep interest while visiting the choreographic educational institution equipped with advanced theatrical technology. 518 young dancers of different ages are studying in it nowadays. The college is equipped with every necessary thing: it has 21 ballet halls, an assembly hall, an educational theatre.

The first performance of the tour - the opera of Alexander Borodin Prince Igor - took place on November 29. On December 1, they introduced the ballet of Alexander Glazunov Raymonda to the Kazakh audience. Both performances were sold out, and the Krasnoyarsk artists drew the tumultuous applause.

“We looked forward to these tours to see such wonderful productions as the Prince Igor opera and the Raymonda ballet. This event is extremely significant for the culture of both countries. The wonderful performances of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre were received with great enthusiasm by our public”, Aizhan Kurmangaliyeva, Deputy Director of the Astana Opera Theatre, summed up the tour, “I’d note that we also are planning to include Prince Igor in our repertoire, we make steady progress in staging this performance soon. We’d love to visit Krasnoyarsk with this production in future because the first tour, which took place as a part of the Dmitri Hvorostovsky Festival in October 2019, was a very valuable experience.

Photos by Elena Konovalova