Academic Musical Theater invites you: "Today and a day of the Paris Notre Dame Church"

In the Academic Music Theater, a new performance is preparing, based on the motives a great French writer, playwright, Victor Hugo's novel "The Paris Notre-Dame Church." Samir Gulamov does the libretto of the show, and the work is one of the most influential representatives of Utopian realism. Last night we attended the rehearsal process at the Academic Music Theater. The project and artistic director of the play are, Honored Artist, Doctor of Philosophy, and Aligismat Lalayev. The creative director of the work, the author of the libretto, belongs to talented director Samir Gulamov; the stage designer is Vusal Rahim. It started on time, almost all the actors of the Musical Theater performed in the rehearsal process. I felt that the performance would be fascinating with its excellent public scenes, selected music, and performances by talented vocalists.

First of all, I would like to remark that French author Victor Hugo wrote the novel "The Church of Paris Notre Dame" in 1831. Gothic and romantic styles are considered to be the pinnacle of historical novel genre in French literature. The famous work has been staged regularly on the platform of the world's best-known theaters under the titles of the "Paris Notre-Dame Church" and "Notre-Dame Kazbel," and since 1905 the first film variant of the novel has been screened. "Paris Notre Dame Church" is not the first time in Samir Gulamov creativity; the director staged the story 13 years ago. Talking with us before the rehearsal, director Samir Gulamov said: The performance I had made at the Academic Musical Theater is the first performance in the history of the theater accompanied by a live orchestra. The play, based on the motifs of the Paris Church of Notre-Dame, was first performed in 2006 at the Academic National Drama Theater, which was directed by me. The production was successful and remained in the repertoire for three years until the Academic National Drama Theater closed for reconstruction. There was also respected Mr. Aligismat among the audience watched our performance. Aligismat Lalayev attended the concert and said he liked it. Years passed, and Mr. Aligismat offered me to make that performance on the stage of the Academic Musical Theater, adding that the play is now practiced as musical in the whole world. Honestly, I liked the idea very much and made my decision.

I want to inform you that "Paris Notre-Dame Church" has staged as rock and opera, but for the first time, we will offer our product to our audience, followed by a live orchestra. Certain parts of the performance will sing directly in French. As an example, I can mention Ave Maria. People's artist Parviz Mammadrzayev will play the role of a priest. Also, the Honored Artist Nadir Khasiyev and Ibrahim Alizadeh are dubbing in this role. Generally, there are a lot of dubbing actors in this performance, and there is a role that has four ones. In the leading roles, Honored Artist Saida Sharifaliyeva, Mehriban Zaliyeva, and Aydan Hasanova will be performing, and Amrah Dadashov and Nicat Habibov will play Kzazomodo, both are fabulous artists.

High-level vocals gathered in the performance. It is a performance with great public scenes and spectacular musical numbers. I believe we can make some effort on behalf of Azerbaijan Theater. There will be 55-60 actors in open views. We have a live orchestra of 40-45 people. Currently, all the departments in our theater are working for this performance. Suits, decorations are making. The premiere of the show scheduled for late October. The scene is difficult to solve. Therefore, all the scenes have to be prepared and completely ready. Then we can show it to our beloved audience. Our biggest goal in making this show is to send a message through this picture. Therefore, the building of the Notre Dame Church in Paris was one of the pearls of the world. When that building burned down, the whole world was upset. We also want to reveal our reaction to this event as an Azerbaijani Theater. The purpose of this performance is to achieve it. However, there was no fire in the building when the idea comes out. Hopefully, we expect representatives of foreign embassies operating in Azerbaijan, notably the French Embassy, to attend the premiere.

As you know, the President granted the Academic status to our theater. We want to thank our esteemed President with this performance, and give the creative contribution of our collective. Unlike the drama I made in 2006, I completely changed my approach to the play and characters. The poetical parts of the performance belong to me, and I wrote the poems myself. The spirit of the production belongs to Hussein Javid. In my work, I have combined my additions to the sense of Hussein Javid. And when you prepare a performance, you have to adapt it to our scene, to our audience, to be accepted. In a word, the root of the work is Victor Hugo; the libretto belongs to me." Samir Gulamov spoke with great interest from the performance, the theater staff, and the actors. As I listened to it and watched the rehearsal process, I felt in my heart that the collective does all their best for this play to be magnificent. The main person who inspires Samir Gulamov to re-engage with his work, is Aligismat Lalayev, Director of the Academic Musical Theater, Honored Artist. The talented director says he has been depressed for a long time because he couldn't direct performance in the theater. "I was away from the theater for seven years. I loved the theater so much that I had a great depression when I was away. I want to thank Mr. Aligismat for inviting me to do such great work after seven years. In general, Aligismat Lalayev has always been a supporter of the youth". We close our conversation with Samir Gulamov and watch the training. During the two-hour rehearsal process, the director also lives up to the characters' lives. As the training process is over, we leave the theater of the Academic Musical Theater. Players hurry to the next orchestral and musical rehearsals. So the day we spend in the theater's busy schedule ends. We say goodbye to the creative team until the premiere. I want to note that the conductor of the performance is Honored Artist Fakhraddin Atayev; painter is Vusal Rahim, structural choreographers are Honored artists Zakir and Yelena Aghayeva; choreographer is Honored artist Vagif Mastanov; concertmaster is Kamil Hasanov.

Open.az Ulviyya Hasangyzy