On November 21 the award ceremony of the theatre festival “Paradise” took place. NOVAT won three prizes in “Musical Theatre” nomination.
Aida by Verdi staged by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev was acknowledged to be the best musical production. “Musical theatres have brought a real delight by their productions - very bright, interesting, and full of variety. There were many good productions but only one turned out to be the best. The jury took an agreed decision”, - mentioned the member of the jury, musicologist Sergey Korobeynikov while handing the award to the musical director of the production Dmitry Jurowski.
Olga Kolobova won the grand prize for the best female role in opera. The jury marked her flawless performance of Turandot part in Puccini’s opera. In the experts’ opinion, “the strong and powerful princess overwhelming by steely sound”, became the best vocal work of the season. It is not by coincidence that Olga Kolobova was honoured to perform the part of Turandot during the forthcoming tour in Astana.
“Back in my childhood I dreamed to become either a princess or a cardiac surgeon, – said Olga Kolobova at the award ceremony. – I didn’t succeed in becoming a surgeon, but I managed to keep the inborn bloodlust. That is why, when I was entrusted to sing the role of Turandot which is an extremely difficult soprano part, it became both a challenge and a brilliant opportunity to realize my natural inclinations”.
Special prize of the musical theatre jury was awarded to ballerina Anna Odintsova. The jury marked her bright roles of the last season: Aegina in Spartacus choreographed by Georgy Kovtun, Giselle in Nikita Dolgushin’s ballet of the same name, Medora in Farukh Ruzimatov’ s version of Le Corsaire, Zhanna and Diana Mireille in The Flames of Paris.
We congratulate the laureates on the deserved awards!