Tokyo, 09 March, /AJMEDIA/
Opera is often referred to as an elitist art, while the lovers of its musical genre are considered to be people with excellent and even aristocratic taste. Still, what truly is opera? Extraordinary vocal abilities, colorful dramatized action, acting, applause? Opera is rather a high art and an entire life, that characters experience on stage; it is an entire epoch with all its beauty, pain, and passion.
Meanwhile, haute couture (high fashion) is the art of creating clothing and style. It is indeed difficult for people far from the fashion world to understand the style of outfits created by famous couturiers, but they are exactly the ones who move fashion forward and create new trends. Haute couture is a sewing art of the highest level, that is able to express and anticipate the moods and tastes of society. On the other hand, it is critical to remember that haute couture suits and dresses are not intended for everyday wear, but rather for special occasions. Haute couture clothing is a style in which a person will go out once or twice.
In fact, for a very long time, the question of whether fashion belongs to the sphere of art remains open. Most people are used to considering fashion as an industry rather than a part of art. Fashion is associated with something dualistic and ephemeral, while art, in the general sense of the word, is eternal. Yet, art and fashion go alongside one another, and this is especially true when it comes to opera.
Such stunning harmony for International Women’s Day on March 8 was presented by the Heydar Aliyev Center’s “Opera and Fashion. Sultan Couture 20,” which combined a fashion exhibition and a concert program of famous opera performers.
Before the beginning of the event, the audience observed an exhibition dedicated to the first female singers of Azerbaijani opera. It is known that opera in the East first appeared in Azerbaijan in 1908. And it was in Azerbaijan that female performers entered the theater stage for the first time in the Muslim world. The exhibition gave information about the first female opera performers: Fatma Mukhtarova, Shovkat Mammadova, Gulhar Hasanova, Sonya Aslanova, Sonya Mustafayeva, and the first female composer, and writer of the first opera in the East, Shafiga Akhundova.
Photographs from the “Leyli and Majnun” by Uzeyir Hajibayli, “Nargiz” by Muslim Magomayev, “Khosrov and Shirin” by Niyazi, “Maiden Tower” by Afrasiyab Badalbayli, “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi, “Shahsanam” by Reinhold Gliere, “Carmen” by Georges Bizet were also be exhibited.
Visitors also had the opportunity to see two historical costumes – the costume of Hagigat Rzayeva as Leyla from the opera “Leyli and Majnun” and the costume of Nazakat Mammadova as Solmaz from the opera “Fiery Bride”.
Of particular interest was the collection of 16 outfits of the SULTAN COUTURE&Co brand, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The dresses were created by the famous fashion designer Orkhan Sultan.
“Since childhood, I have developed a love for classical art, opera, and ballet genres, where I saw the outfits of performers, which undoubtedly aroused great interest in costumes and predetermined my further choice as a fashion designer. I really like opera art, including such masterpieces as “Aida”, “Turandot” and “La Traviata”. Work on the current collection has been going on for four months, and it reflects the transfer from the past to the present, considering the color scheme and vocals of the singers who performed the arias from various works during the event. Naturally, we also studied the history of the opera art of Azerbaijan to create dresses,” Orkhan Sultan told Trend Life.
In addition to the presented collection, opera singers also took to the stage in costumes created by Orkhan Sultan specifically for the Baku concert. The stage images were decorated with Bvlgari brand jewelry. Among them was the host of the evening, Honored Worker of Culture Leyla Guliyeva.
Soloist of the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Music Theater Anastasiya Chernovolos (soprano), the soloist of the “Helikon-Opera” Moscow Musical Theater Elnara Mammadova (soprano), the winner of international competitions Yana Melikayeva (mezzo-soprano) and Yekaterina Sannikova (soprano), took part in the concert program.
Artists performed accompanied by the Azerbaijan State Symphony Orchestra named after Uzeyir Hajibayli under the direction of conductor Mustafa Mehmandarov. Under the applause of the audience, the concert featured works of Asaf Zeynalli, Gara Garayev, Niyazi, Uzeyir Hajibayli, Tofig Guliyev, Giacomo Puccini, Johann Strauss, Georges Bizet, and other Azerbaijani and world classics.
The grand celebration organized by the Heydar Aliyev Center gave the audience a stunning evening of both beautiful vocal interpretations and a rich repertoire, as well as a collection of a famous jewelry brand with fascinating stage costumes.
