Turkey: Opera, genre loved by Ataturk, grows in popularity
Country a big fan of musical genre despite shift towards Islam
17 January, 15:46
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, on stage in Turkey Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, on stage in Turkey
(ANSA) – ANKARA – A Western style of music is having success in the capital of Turkey, which has an Islamic majority and is moving away from the foundations that were laid by Ataturk: opera. Opera theatres are often sold out and ticket sales have increased. This trend was revealed by the Ankara State Opera and Ballet (ADOB), which underlines that the occupancy of theatres increased by 6% in the first half of this season (2011/12), when 36 thousand people saw a total of 68 highly appreciated performances. The season was opened by the ballet ”The Hunchback of Notre dame” and continued with the Turkish opera ”Ali Baba and the 40 thieves,” said ADOB chairman Erdogan Davran. Davran added that a ”Tosca” premiere was also on the programme (directed by Alessandro Cedrone and lighting by Stefano Pirandello).
Opera in Turkey owes its success to the impulse it received from the founder of the modern country, Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk in fact loved this genre, despite the fact that he had opened the country to all Western arts in the fields of painting, sculpture, literature, music, ballet and theatre. He wanted to use culture to tie relations to the Western countries that had used Turkey as eastern bulwark against the Soviet Union for decades. After the fall of the Wall in 1989 and the start of the era of the moderate Islamic Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2003, Turkey started to reposition itself: from NATO guardian to a regional power that wants to become a model for the entire Middle East and North African area. Turkey’s shift towards the Islamic world under the umbrella of a secular political constitution does not appear to have corroded the success of opera, at least according to the figures on this season in Ankara. ”All our shows are sold out,” Davran told the Turkish Anadolu agency. Usually there are fewer visitors in October due to the opening of the schools, but this year was different: even that month all performances were sold out. The theatre schedule included 23 performances every 30 days, without counting touring shows. Despite this summer’s restoration works that made 100 seats unavailable, we have received 4,500 more spectators in the first part of the season and tickets for the 600 available seats are sold out ”on the same day sales are opened on the internet,” the ADOB director underlined. The theatre, which includes soloists, a chorus, an orchestra, a ballet and modern dance ensemble, also increased the number of performances, now at its maximum due to logistical and organisational limits. With an eye on the future, more shows for children will be scheduled: the first will start in the second half of the season, added Davran, stressing that premieres of opera, ballet and modern dance performances are on the programme. (ANSAmed).