As part of the VIII festival of Russian musical theaters “Seeing the Music”, which is being held in Moscow, the troupe of the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater presented “Mother’s Field” on the stage of the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Singing Center.
“We dedicate this performance to Chyngyz Aitmatov’s 95th birthday,” says Almazbek Mamatzhanovich. “The room was completely sold out and the artists were received with applause. After the performance, festival participants expressed genuine surprise at the fact that Kyrgyz ballet not only still exists, but also performs at such a high level. We are on the list of the best!
Admiration, claims the director of the theater, was seized not only by the audience, but also by the authoritative jury of the festival, which included music critic Maria Babalova (by the way, our colleague from the Moscow editorial office of Rossiyskaya Gazeta. – Ed. ), theater critic, head of the literary department of the Moscow State Academic Operetta Theater Alla Tueva, ballet expert Pavel Yashchenkov, deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine “Musical Klondike” Nadezhda Kuzyakova.
“The legend was personally present at the festival,” emphasizes Almazbek Istambaev, Professor Valeria Uralskaya, editor-in-chief of the print version of the “Ballet” magazine. – They say that with his critical comments he made Maya Plisetskaya herself cry! She gave our artists a very high rating. She was no longer present at the discussion, but Yashchenkov conveyed her words: everything went very well. Pavel Petrovich himself reminded the jury that this was the first ballet based on Aitmatov: “I saw performances based on the works of the great author. But for all of them, the starting point was the Campo Madre, which was shown to us today.” All critics noted the high level and at the same time the young composition of the company.In addition, according to Yashchenkov, Valeria Iosifovna drew attention to the highest level of the male ballet corps.
These assessments, says Istambaev, were achieved thanks to the theater’s chief choreographer, Kanat Nadyrbek, who accepted the invitation of the management of the Maldybaev Opera and Ballet Theater and left the Mariinsky Theater, where he worked, for the important task of elevating Kyrgyz ballet .
But, of course, the most important award for the company, for everyone who worked on the production and for the theater as a whole is the agreement reached between Almaz Istambaev and the general director of the Bolshoi Theater Vladimir Urin, according to which in 2024 The ballet-oratorio “Mother’s Field” will be performed with the entire composition, including the choir and orchestra (160 people) on the Bolshoi stage! By the way, this was also requested by the festival’s expert jury.
“This is a truly great historical event,” says Almazbek Istambaev. – The fact is that in 2024 it will be exactly 40 years since this ballet was last performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. In January we will sign an agreement between our theaters and the production itself is tentatively scheduled for October. We will also time the performance to coincide with the centenary of the formation of the Kara-Kyrgyz-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region.
Of course, we couldn’t help but ask the theater director who paid for this ballet “banquet” and with whose expenses the entire ballet is scheduled to travel to Moscow next year.
“First of all, this is the support of the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, who allocated 700 million soms this year,” lists Almazbek Mamatzhanovich. – Many thanks to him and the Minister of Culture, Altynbek Maksutov, who quickly ordered the allocation of the necessary funds. Thanks to this we were able to go to the festival. And in 2024, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Culture will continue to fund the tour. Secondly, participation in the “See the Music” festival gives us the opportunity to stay in hotels for free with internal transportation and food. This, of course, is also very important. Once again, the management of the Bolshoi Theater provides us with a stage completely free of charge. I must also express my gratitude to the president of the Association of Theaters of the CIS countries, Georgy Isaakyan. He made a friendly gesture and waived our membership fee. Theaters pay it annually in the amount of 50 thousand rubles. I would also like to thank the Kyrgyz diaspora in Russia and personally the Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to the Russian Federation Gulnara-Clara Samat, who wholeheartedly supported us and attended our performance.
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The premiere of the ballet-oratorio “The Mother’s Field” based on the story of the same name by Chyngyz Aitmatov took place in 1974 in Frunze. “The ballet became an artistic discovery of the musical and theatrical art of Kyrgyzstan. In it the theme of man’s feat in the name of saving the Fatherland, in the name of saving life was strongly heard,” critics of the ballet noted. epoch.
And in 1975, the ballet premiered on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater during a tour of the Kyrgyz Opera and Ballet Theater in Moscow. One of the main roles, Tolgonai, was played by the outstanding Kyrgyz dancer, People’s Artist of the USSR Aisulu Tokombaeva. The libretto of the ballet-oratorio was written by the Kyrgyz writer Marklen Bayalinov, the USSR State Prize-winning composer, the Kyrgyz Soviet composer Kaly Moldobasanov.
