National Music Orchestra presents forgotten works of Saydashev
Choreographers Nurbek Batulla and Alsu Magsumzyanova took the stage with the musicians
The Sultan Gabyashi National Music Festival, organised by the National Music Orchestra and its conductor Aidar Niyazov, continues in Kazan. At the Moscow Cultural Centre, they performed two pieces that had not been heard in full versions before: the symphonic ballet “Sarvinas” by Ilgam Baytiryak, based on the ballet “Gulnara” by Salikh Saydashev, and a choreographic suite by Saydashev, which has been preserved in drafts. For the latter, choreographers Nurbek Batulla and Alsu Magsumzyanova came up with a dance story.
How Saydashev did not see his ballet
The festival began in early December with a lecture about the first Tatar opera “Saniya," followed by a concert-lecture on Turkic music. On December 12, premieres by Ruzia Kalimullina, the new chairman of the Union of Composers of Tatarstan Ilyas Kamal, and the symphony “In Memory of Shamil Sharifullin” by Ilgama Baytiryak were performed at the Kariev Theatre.
Actually, Baytiryak also wrote the symphony-ballet “Sarvinaz”. Interestingly, it is based on the ballet “Gulnara” by Salikh Saydashev. The composer created it in 1948, based on the history of Volga Bulgaria in the 12th–13th centuries (in particular, the plot was connected to the Black Chamber, linking it to the modern opera of the same name by Elmira Nizamova and Renat Kharis).
His clavier was kept for a long time in the archive of Gai Tagirov, the choreographer of the Tatar Opera and Ballet Theater, who composed the libretto for it. A production was planned, but it was never realised. There is a recollection of Sarah Sadykova's daughter Alfiya Aidarskaya that in 1949 Tagirov offered her the main role.
In the same year, Saydashev was fired from the Tatar Theatre, the radio committee, and expelled from the Union of Composers. At the beginning of the noughties, Ilham Baytiryak wrote his symphony ballet based on this ballet.
Ilgam Baitiryak and the choreographic school
“Is there a lot of Saishev in this music?” reflects Niyazov. “For me, there is a lot of him. For me, Saydashev is not just in the melodies, but also in the harmonies and textures. If you look at it with the naked eye, someone can say that it is not enough. There are also familiar motifs from the “Adriatic Sea”, “Blue Shawl”, “Oriental Dance”. There is a lot of folk, oriental, music, there is, for example, the Crimean haitarma. And also — asymmetrical dimensions, in which it is very difficult to conduct.
The new story was written by historian Rishat Khaliullin, who came up with a story about Khan Berk. But since at that time the heroine could not be called Gulnara in any way, the ministry of culture advised to change the name. So she became Sarvinaz. Costumes were sewn, decorations were made, and the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan, under the direction of conductor Fuat Mansurov, recorded a soundtrack. And a show was arranged, it was planned that the ballet would be shown by the millennium of Kazan.
“Vladimir Yakovlev, the artistic director of the ballet of the Opera and Ballet Theatre, raised a question: do you have battle scenes, a chase, a sword fight, archery. How do you imagine children in military costumes, with swords, bows, and arrows? This, he says, will look comical. You took the wrong performance for the school," Baytiryak recalls. “So I took it and crossed it all out. Although the leading roles were performed by graduates, and you can't tell them apart from real ballerinas.
Later, according to Baitiryak, they planned to perform the music of Sarvinas for Sadyashev's anniversary at the Big Concert Hall, but something went wrong with the direction. Therefore, the composer, taking only folk melodies, created the “Crimean Suite," which was performed on stage quite frequently. The suite came across to Aidar Niyazov, the orchestra played it last year at the Pechen Bazaars festival. From that moment on, the creative friendship between the composer and the conductor strengthened.
“He said: don't worry, leave these concerns to me, and you just create”
The second piece performed at Moskovsky is an unnamed choreographic suite for a symphony orchestra based on folk music, preserved in drafts.
It was decided that Nurbek Batulla and Alsu Magsumzyanova would dance to it. Both have a choreographic school behind their backs, both are excellent at dancing folk dances. But at the same time, Batulla is famous for his love of modern forms of choreography. Alsu Magsumzyanova is known to those who attended dance classes “Хәрәкәттә — бәрәкәт” at Nizhny Kaban in the summer. The result is an interesting story about the relationship of a young couple, not without a fair amount of humour.
“I immediately told Nurbek that I did not know what to do," says Alsu Magsumzyanova. “He said: don't worry, leave these worries to me, and you just create. He introduced me to his philosophy, opened the door to the world of modern dance for me. And I introduced him to my world. At first, we didn't even dance to this music, we reflected, talked about our interests, got used to each other's energy. Nurbek said that he did not want to dance an ordinary folk dance. At each rehearsal, we improvised, watched videos afterwards, and put together, as they say, puzzles. This is a new experience for me, but I am pleased that I overcame my fear, worked with Batulla, felt my body in a new way, looked at the Tatar dance from a new angle. I hope there will be a sequel.