The Fidan Hajiyeva's First International Opera Festival has started with the premiere of Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen" in a new production and in a modern genre. The opera premiered at Baku Music Academy's Opera Studio, Azernews reports.

It is gratifying to note that the love for classical art in Azerbaijan has set a kind of record—all tickets for the week-long performances of the festival were sold out.

The audience that evening was treated to a great celebration of operatic art, which was reflected in the impressions of the audience, who repeatedly gave the artists applause throughout the performance.

In conclusion, the entire audience greeted the creative team with standing ovations and bouquets of flowers.

The main role of Carmen was performed by the organiser herself, People's Artist Fidan Hajiyeva, for whom this image has become an opera brand for many years, but this time she appeared before the audience from a completely new side.

The director of the opera, Elvin Mirzoyev, presented the audience with a modern view of 19th-century opera, without time attachment and preserving the music and libretto of the classical masterpiece.

Through the prism of the plot and dynamic acting, stage costumes, and scenery, the relationship between the characters and the accents of the work are positioned differently.

Freedom of choice and decision-making—the true value of love—come to the fore. In the performance, even the crowd scenes, including the children's choir of the Fidan Gadzhieva Music School, were not static but alive, and each artist felt like the main character of the action taking place.

A bright performance by People's Artist Gulnaz Ismailova (Frasquita), Honoured Artists Farid Aliyev (Don Jose), Inara Babayeva (Mikaela), Anton Verstandt (Escamillo), Aliakhmed Ibragimov (Remendado), soloists Igor Yadrov (Zuniga), Mahir Tagizade (Morales), Nina Makarova (Mercedes), and Efima Zavalny (Dankairo), whose height exceeds two metres, became a real pearl necklace of the premiere. It should be noted that about 150 famous and young artists took part in the performance. Moreover, the orchestra of the State Opera and Ballet Theatre performed under the direction of Cornelia von Kerssenbrock, specially invited from Germany, the artistic director and chief conductor of the Bavarian Gutt-Imling Opera Festival. The premiere was a great success.

The Fidan Hajiyeva's First International Opera Festival runs from April 27 to May 3. The event is organised by People's Artist Fidan Hajiyeva's Vocal Music School with the support of the Culture Ministry and the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theatre.

For seven days, works by Azerbaijani classics and world composers will be held in Baku and Ganja.

The main goal of the project is to promote and develop classical music in Azerbaijan, identify and support new talents in the field of opera. Among the eminent guests of the festival are world-famous conductors and composers from abroad, famous Azerbaijani vocalists and musicians, and talented youth.

Photo Credits: Ramin Aslanov

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, Milli.Az, and Turkic.World.