Russian Classic Romance night in Astana Opera today

Astana Opera house is presenting the Russian Classic Romance night today, on February 19, 2014 in the Chamber Hall, Tengrinews reports. The performance will be broadcast live on TengrinewsTV. Russian Romance is a type of sentimental art song with hints of Gypsy influence that was developed in Imperial Russia. By the early 20th century, several types of the Russian Romance emerged. An elite type of the Italianate opera-influenced song known as the "salon romance" is contrasted to the lower-class genre of "cruel romance" which features "senitimental courtship, illicit love, pained rejection, and often suicide". Dolores Umbetaliyeva will be presenting her class of opera soloists. Opera singers Medet Chotabayev, Talgat Musabayev, Dina Khamzina, Zhupar Gabdulina, Bulat Yesimkhanov, Zhan Tapin and Azamat Zheltyrguzov will perform the art songs. The night will be dedicated to the art songs by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergey Rachmaninoff. Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff developed a completely new style of the Russian Romance. Their song are filled with deep sense and feelings; pauses and intonations, everything matters. The composers created their pieces with pinpoint accuracy and excellent musical taste. The Art Director of the opera troupe Gyuzel Khaibulina promised that rare art songs would also be part of the night's program. "We want to create an atmosphere of those years, with their refined and aesthetic culture using the classic romances with their sophisticated dramaturgy and philosophical ideas," Khaibulina said. The concert will start at 7:30. The ticket cost is 3,000 tenge ($16). The theater is located on Kunayev street, at the crossing with Turan Av.