DIE BAJADERE

21–24 August

Touring Performances of

the Karaganda Academic Theatre of Musical Comedy

DIE BAJADERE

E. Kálmán

Operetta in 2 Acts

 Running time:  2 hours 20 minutes

Please note that the age limit is 5+

Management reserves the right to substitute performers

Libretto by Elena Yezerskaya

The premiere took place on 30 August 2003

                                                              PRODUCTION TEAM:

Music Director and Conductor – V. Bogdanov

Stage Director – L. Naletova (Russia, Moscow)

Set Designer – T. Spasolomskaya (Russia, Moscow)

Choreographer – M. Lepilina (Russia, Moscow)

Chorus Master – T. Shtykova

Die Bajadere is one of Kálmán’s most celebrated operettas. It premiered in Vienna in 1921 and owes its creation to the European fashion for all things exotic, particularly Indian culture. Alongside Kálmán’s signature Hungarian rhythms, the music of Die Bajadere incorporates elements of jazz, the rhythms of the Boston waltz, shimmy and other American-inspired dance styles.

Odette, a bayadere, falls deeply in love with the Indian prince Radjami, who is willing to break with ancient tradition that forbids the princes of Lahore from marrying foreigners. The prince even renounces his throne for her. Yet, at the announcement of their engagement, Odette makes a dramatic sacrifice: she turns the moment into a staged performance, playing it off as a joke. Radjami prepares to leave, and Odette withdraws from the stage. Both are left heartbroken. But suddenly, permission for their marriage is granted — and all ends in joy.

The enchanting melodies of Emmerich Kálmán transport the audience to a magical East where reality and dreams merge, where the intoxicating scent of orchids mingles with social judgment, where love’s charm clashes with mundane reality, and where magic transformations and unexpected surprises await. As always in operetta, the finale is radiant and triumphant. The entire story can be summed up with the famous aphorism: “What woman wants, God wants.”

 Tickets purchased at the Astana Opera are exchangeable and refundable only in cases of cancelled or postponed performances. In all other cases, no refunds and exchanges are possible.