“AIDA“

One of Giuseppe Verdi’s greatest works and certainly one of the grandest of grand operas, “Aida” had its premiere at the Cairo Opera House on Christmas Eve 1871. A study of “Egyptian style,” their history, geography, and religion, even today, the work holds a cherished place in the operatic canon, and is performed every year around the globe. Like some of Verdi’s other operas, Aida too would mix grandeur with intimacy, a combination that he found effective with audiences and audiences had found intriguing in the way Verdi choose to approach it. Composer and conductor Vanja Nikolovski Gjumar graduated conducting from the Faculty of Music in Skopje. He obtained conducting and composition specialization at the Conservatory “Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov” in St. Petersbourgh, Russia. At the moment he is completing his doctoral studies in conducting from the University in Arizona. Before moving to the USA, Nikolovski Gjumar worked as a principal conductor at MOB, and also appeared as a guest conductor with the Macedonian Philharmonic, choir of the Macedonian Radio and TV, academic choir “Mirche Acev”, performing in Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Portugal, Romania and USA. His operatic and concert repertoire comprises works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Schuman, Dvorzak, Schubert, Mahler… The Istanbul City Opera was established in 1959 by the private effort of Aydın Gün, an opera singer and stage director, and it was nationalized in 1970 as the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet. The rich repertoire of the institution which is continuously developing is comprised of thousands of staged works which attract more and more spectators every year.

Vanja Nikolovski-Gjumar – conductor, Dejan Proshev – director, Zoran Kostovski – set designer, Elena Doncheva – costume designer, Snezhana Filipovska – choreography, Petro Dimitrovski –light designer

Cast: Deniz Yetim – Aida, Ayşe Özkan – Amneris, Efe Kışlalı – Radames, Tuncay Kurtoğlu – Ramfis, Cengiz Sayın – Amonasro, Dragoljub  Bajich (Serbia) – Pharaon, Nadezhda Ruben – Priestess, Marjan Nikolovski – Messenger

The Orchestra, Choir and Ballet ensemble of Macedonian Opera and Ballet

The State Opera and Ballet of Turkey (Istanbul)