The festival will feature one opera, two ballets and one staged cantata in six performances at the ancient Aspendos Theater.
The International Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival will bring opera and ballet performances to audiences for the 33rd time this year, with the ancient theater set to host four major productions from Sept. 12 to 26.
Organized by the General Directorate of State Opera and Ballet, the festival will feature one opera, two ballets and one staged cantata in six performances at the ancient Aspendos Theater. All performances will begin at 9 p.m.
The festival will open with Giuseppe Verdi’s “Attila” and also feature “Anna Karenina” and Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” The closing performances will be “Spartacus,” staged by Kazakhstan’s Abai Kazakh National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.
The Antalya State Opera and Ballet will open the festival on Sept. 12 with Verdi’s opera “Attila.”
The three-act opera tells the story of love, betrayal and a struggle for power surrounding the Hun ruler Attila and Odabella’s vow of revenge. The production will be directed by Yiğit Günsoy, with the orchestra conducted by Lorenzo Castriota.
The ballet “Anna Karenina,” based on Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel, will be performed at the ancient theater on Sept. 15.
The production explores the tragic story of Anna Karenina, caught between love, loyalty, passion and jealousy, through a contemporary ballet interpretation.
The music is drawn from works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Giacomo Puccini and Sergei Prokofiev, with arrangements by Tulio Gagliardo Varas and choreography by South Korean choreographer Young Soon Hue.
Antalya State Opera and Ballet will stage Carl Orff’s renowned staged cantata “Carmina Burana” on Sept. 19 and 21.
The production will bring together an orchestra, soloists, chorus, children’s chorus, ballet and modern dance ensembles on the same stage.
Maximilian Cem Haberstock will conduct the orchestra, while Mahir Seyrek and Sinem Emine Ulusoy will lead the chorus and children’s chorus, respectively. The production is directed by A. Volkan Ersoy.
With its large-scale choreography and elaborate stage design, “Carmina Burana” is expected to be one of the festival’s highlights.
The festival will conclude on Sept. 25 and 26 with “Spartacus,” performed by Kazakhstan’s Abai Kazakh National Opera and Ballet Theater.
The ballet tells the epic story of the famous gladiator Spartacus and his struggle for freedom against the Roman Empire.
The music was composed by Aram Khachaturian, with a libretto by Nikolai Volkov, a revision by Yuri Grigorovich and choreography by Zaurbek Raybayev, a People’s Artist of Kazakhstan.
With its dramatic structure, powerful choreography and grand stage scenes, “Spartacus” will bring the 33rd International Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival to a spectacular close.
