State Opera and Ballet ready for festival

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The DOB will organize the fourth International Istanbul Ballet Competition and Festival as well as other international ballet events during the summer months. DHA Photo

The State Opera and Ballet (DOB), which has been drawing large numbers of spectators this season, is preparing for four big international events over the coming summer months.

Speaking about their works, DOB General Director Rengim Gökmen said that with the increase of stages and seats, the DOB directorates in various provinces had been enjoying their highest viewing figures in years. The DOB will organize the fourth International Istanbul Ballet Competition and Festival during the summer months, he said.

Gökmen said they would stage Verdi’s “Attila” opera, which was recently premiered, during this year’s international festivals.

“These works will also be presented at the opening of both the International Istanbul Opera Festival and the International Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival. There will also be the International Istanbul Ballet Competition this year to add to the festival mood. This is why we are working very hard for the summer months,” Gökmen said. He said many operas had played to a full house during the 2013-2014 art season thanks to the interest of art lovers and that the restructuring of the Ankara DOB Directorate in 2008 had positive effects on the increase of interest.

Former Ankara DOB Director and Art Director Erdoğan Davran has made significant contributions to the company’s program, Gökmen said, adding that the current director and art director, Aykut Çınar, had given a boost to the Ankara DOB thanks to his artistic vision and approach to management.
The arts of opera and ballet are most often seen in industrialized and economically successful countries, he said.

“You can be an amateur of everything but not of opera and ballet. It is an art branch that should be approached with serious planning. In this respect, we attach much importance to the existence of these art branches and their development,” he said.

Festival to draw international guests

The fourth Eskişehir Opera and Ballet Days, on which DOB has been working, will be held starting May 3, while the fifth International Istanbul Opera Festival will be held between June 3 and 17, he said. The festival’s opening will be made with the “Attila” opera, while the foreign guest groups at the festival will be the Austrian Salzburg State Opera on June 14 and 15. The star of the festival will be baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who will perform a gala concert at the closing event, which will be conducted by Constantine Orbelian with the accompaniment of the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet.

Meanwhile, the 12th Bodrum Ballet Festival will be held from July 19 to Aug. 9, with the Carlos Suara group presenting “Flamenco Hoy” on July 23.

Another festival, the 21st International Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival, will meet art lovers between Aug. 30 and Sept. 20. The opening will be made with “Attila,” while the Slovakia National Theater will perform Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” ballet together with the Slovakia National Philharmonic Orchestra. The festival will host the Budapest Operet and Musical Theater on Sept. 6 with the “Operets Gala” show. The closing of the festival will feature the Taormina Festival opera group with Puccini’s “Tosca.”