From 19 to 21 June, Roland Petit’s beloved ballet Notre-Dame de Paris, set to the music of Maurice Jarre, will be performed at the Astana Opera. The production is featured in the programme of the Operaliya International Music Festival.
This multifaceted story of love, told through the medium of contemporary choreography, is once again drawing sell-out crowds. Altynai Asylmuratova, the artistic director of the Astana Opera Ballet, continues her strategy of nurturing talent and fostering generational continuity. By deliberately entrusting principal roles to young dancers, she offers them a vital opportunity to mature through the demanding choreography of the 20th century. This approach is bearing fruit: the three June performances will feature two major debuts.
On 19 June, audiences will see Islam Kaiypbai portray the obsessed archdeacon. This marks his debut as Claude Frollo – a man broken by his own destructive passion. In this challenging role, he must convey a profound internal psychological collapse. That same evening, the role of Esmeralda will be performed by Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Madina Unerbayeva, with Serik Nakyspekov as Quasimodo, and Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Yerkin Rakhmatullayev as Phoebus.
“I feel an immense sense of responsibility and gratitude to Altynai Asylmuratova for her trust, as well as to my répétiteurs. This opportunity is profoundly inspiring and motivates me to keep growing as a performer. Preparing the role of Claude Frollo demands, first and foremost, deep immersion into the character. The true challenge lies not only in the technical execution, but in the necessity of conveying my character’s complex inner world. I see Frollo as a deeply contradictory figure, torn between his duty, his faith, his power, and intense human emotions. It is vital for me to project this internal conflict through physicality, dramatic movement, and acting, ensuring the audience sees a living, breathing human being rather than a one-dimensional villain,” explained Islam Kaiypbai.
On 20 June, Amir Khvan will make his debut as the Captain of the King’s Archers. This demanding role calls for both virtuoso technique and immense dramatic depth, keeping with Roland Petit’s original directive that Phoebus must be performed as “a beautiful, empty shell”. Appearing alongside him that evening will be Shugyla Adepkhan as Esmeralda, Galymzhan Nurmukhamet as Quasimodo, and Aibar Toktar as Frollo.
Admirers of the celebrated ballet star and Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan, Bakhtiyar Adamzhan, have already secured their tickets for 21 June. He is, without exaggeration, widely hailed as the world’s finest Quasimodo. He truly dances the role through the physical deformity of his character’s humpback, embodying Roland Petit’s famous choreographic philosophy: “A classical dancer’s body is an instrument of perfection, but for Quasimodo, I broke the lines.” It is in his profound interpretation that the tragic Final Adagio leaves the entire auditorium spellbound and moved to tears. Sharing the stage with Bakhtiyar Adamzhan for this performance will be Arman Urazov as Frollo, Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan Aigerim Beketayeva as Esmeralda, and Dias Kurmangazy as Phoebus.
Roland Petit created Notre-Dame de Paris in 1965 for the Opéra National de Paris. The libretto and choreography were crafted by the master himself, featuring set designs by René Allio and costumes by the legendary couturier Yves Saint Laurent. The ballet has been a staple of the Astana Opera’s repertoire since 2016, where it invariably plays to packed houses.
