The Astana Opera Theatre will present the Bach and His Contemporaries festival to classical music lovers, dedicated to the 340th anniversary of one of the greatest figures in the musical world. The festival will open on April 1 in the Grand Hall of the theatre with a rich program of magnificent examples of the work of outstanding 18th century composers performed by the symphony orchestra, choir and soloists of the opera company.

The ideological inspirer of the festival was the soloist of the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Aisulu Baikenova, who will also present a solo violin part this evening. 

"This year the musical world celebrates the 340th anniversary of the brilliant composer Johann Sebastian Bach - one of the most significant figures whose work has had a huge impact not only on world classics such as WA Mozart and L. Van Beethoven, but also on modern music. Our theatre has not been left out, and this festival will be a tribute from the collective to the great master. Bach's music is very beautiful, wise and extraordinarily majestic. It is so relevant and understandable to a wide range of listeners that it sometimes seems as if the universe is talking to us through his works," - shared Aisulu Baikenova.

The vocal part of the program will be presented by Tatyana Vitsinskaya, Asem Sembina and Saltanat Muratbekova. The artists will take to the stage with arias from the opera "Orlando Furioso" by A. Vivaldi. The concertmaster of the flute group of the theatre's orchestra, Alexei Kosyrev, will also perform a solo part this evening, in his interpretation the composition of the great German composer J.S. Bach - Menuet and Scherzo ("Joke") from Suite for flute with orchestra No. 2 in B minor will sound. 

The culmination of the concert will be the vocal and symphonic oratorio Gloria in D major by Antonio Vivaldi. The widely known work of the largest representative of Italian Baroque music will be presented for the first time on the stage of the Astana Opera performed by the choir and symphony orchestra of the theatre conducted by the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Dautov.

"The idea of performing this particular composition came from the fact that the inspirer of the festival, Aisulu Baikenova, approached us with a proposal to perform a choral work within its framework, and I suggested turning to the oratorio Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi, a contemporary of J.S. Bach. This is a bright, beautiful, famous piece, individual numbers of which are often used in films. Although this brilliant creation is very easy to perceive, there are, however, difficulties in performing it, which lie in its style. Since we do not know for sure how Baroque music was performed four centuries ago, during the lifetime of the authors themselves, given that individual composers, including Vivaldi, did not prescribe stylistic details in the score. Nevertheless, we have our own achievements and understanding of how this should be performed," - said the chief choirmaster of the theatre Yerzhan Dautov.

As part of the Bach and His Contemporaries music festival, the audience will be treated to two more exciting concerts in the K. Baiseitova Chamber Hall on April 3 and 6, where the theatre's creative forces will further introduce the public to the extensive heritage of the musical geniuses of the Baroque era.