The ballet "The Thousand and One Nights" by Fikret Amirov, the world-famous composer of Azerbaijan, was performed in Beijing, the capital of China, on August 23-25.
The work, which has triumphed on many stages around the world, was performed by the Primorsky stage of St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater (Vladivostok) as part of the ballet troupe's tour to the People’s Republic of China.
Over 3,500 ballet lovers in China watched the performance newly staged by Eldar Aliyev, the troupe's artistic director, at the Beijing National Performing Arts Center. This event was the first major ballet production at the newly opened Beijing National Performing Arts Center.
The leading roles were performed by Anna Samstrelova, Irina Sapojnikova, Liliya Berezhnova, Sergey Umanets, Viktor Mulygin, and others.
Among the spectators during the three-day performances were Oleg Kojemyako, the Governor of Russia's Primorsky region, Wang Ning, the Director of the Chinese Grand Theater, Claudio Yang, the President of the "Silk Road" International Cultural Association, and various other officials and guests.
The performance was accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Chinese National Ballet under the baton of the Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Azerbaijan Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, the laureate of international competitions, Honored Artist Ayyub Guliyev.
The performance featured soloists of the Chorus and Opera Troupe of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre Anastasia Kikot and Samira Halimova, a native of Azerbaijan, and the soloists of the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theatre Ramin Azimov (Baku) and Nadezhda Medvedeva (Vladivostok) as tar performers.
The ballet "One Thousand and One Nights," celebrating the musical glory of Azerbaijan and the Middle East, was received with great interest by Chinese art lovers.
Fikret Amirov's ballet "One Thousand and One Nights," based on well-known Arabic fairy tales, premiered in 1979 at the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Baku. The libretto of the play is by prominent Azerbaijani writers Magsud and Rustam Ibrahimbayov brothers.
The composer included tar, the national instrument of Azerbaijan, in the orchestra and created a rich collection of percussion instruments (bongos, tam-tam, xylophone, vibraphone, drum, bell, timpani, cymbals, etc.) to effectively convey the richness of Arabic rhythms to the audience.
