Opera Week kicks off with ‘French Breeze’

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The Opera Week will begin today and continue until 12 May with various concerts.

Istanbul’s State Opera and Ballet (IDOB) welcomes opera lovers to its annual “Opera Week,” beginning today and continuing through May 12.

The week will kick off with a concert titled “French Breeze,” to take place at Kadıköy’s Süreyya Opera House, according to a written statement from the IDOB. The show is choreographed by Gürçil Çeliktaş, and stage decoration and costuming come to the fore in this as in all Opera Week concerts. The artists appearing in the concert will include Caner Akgün, Eda Erdaş, Zafer Erdaş, Onur Ertür, Alper Göçeri, Bülent Külekçi, Hande Soner, Elif Tuğba Tekışık, Tülay Uyar and Beril Yürekli as soloist.

The second event of Opera Week will be dedicated to Turkish opera star Leyla Gencer, who passed away in 2008. The concert will include performances by students from the Istanbul University State Conservatory and Mimar Sinan Fine Art University, said IDOB Art Director Suat Arıkan.

The Süreyya Opera House will also host a night of opera on May 10, with a concert titled “Italian opera during the Ottoman era.” Opera singers Ayten Telek, Ahmet Baykara, Alp Köksal, Besnik Ademoğlu, and Utku Bayburt will perform, accompanied by violinist Ceren Gürkan and pianist Simten Şenpolat. Audiences will also have the opportunity to hear Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem” and Battista Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” on May 12.