Zoo Book Sales
Related Articles
NUR-SULTAN – Otyrar Sazy Academic Folk and Ethnographic Orchestra of Kazakhstan will expand its foreign repertoire by adding popular works of famous musicians on Kazakh folk instruments, said Dinara Tlendiyeva, the orchestra’s director. artistic director and conductor during his meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on April 1.
Otyrar Sazy Orchestra during rehearsals. Photo credit: voxpopuli.kz
Tlendiyeva, daughter of a prominent Kazakh composer and conductor Nurgisa Tlendiyev, was the first woman in Kazakhstan and the Commonwealth of Independent States to hold the position of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor at the age of 24 in 2009.
Dinara Tlendiyeva, chief conductor of the Otyrar Sazy Orchestra.
Since his appointment as conductor, in an effort to carry on the legacy of his father, who was the founder of the Otyrar Sazy Orchestra, the repertoire has expanded and the orchestra has begun playing modern tunes and ancient compositions in a modern arrangement. These changes have attracted a wider audience, especially the younger generation who now come regularly to concerts.
Over the years, the orchestra developed an impressive repertoire and garnered full houses and standing ovations on their tours to France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco and Vietnam.
The importance of the orchestra in restoring and popularizing Kazakh folk music, as well as in demonstrating Kazakh folk instruments to the world, cannot be overstated. Otyrar Sazy was created in 1982 to revive the sounds of many almost forgotten Kazakh folk instruments by giving them a place in an orchestra. Many instruments were unique, recreated by modern masters from samples found during excavations of the medieval city of Otyrar.
Nourgisa Tlendiyev with her daughter – Dinara. Photo credit: Almaty History Museum Fund.
Alongside more classical Kazakh instruments such as the dombra and kobyz, there are more recently discovered folk instruments in the orchestra, such as the sherter, shankobyz, meskobyz, syrnay, saz syrnay, sybyzgy, asatayak, dauylpaz, tuyaktas and konyrau.
With such a wide range of sounds available, the orchestra displays rich, more ornate, nationally flavored sounds. original compositions of Kazakh folklore.
Much of this success belongs to Tlendiyev, who rewrote traditional Kazakh music and classical works to the sound of the new orchestra, writing separate parts for each revived folk instrument.
He was a masterful conductor, composer and dombra player, recognized as one of the most versatile musicians and improvisers of his generation.
He reached the pinnacle of his profession by working as a young conductor of the Kazakh Opera and Ballet Theater at the age of 28. Later, he was appointed chief conductor of the Kazakh State Orchestra of Folk Instruments in 1961 at the age of 36.
In the pages of the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper in 2015, the year of Tlendiyev’s 90th birthday, music critic Yuri Aravin wrote his memories of the composer’s unique conducting style.
Tlendiyev was a masterful dombra player and was known for his immense talent for improvisation.
“His trademark technique was to turn his back on the orchestra in the middle of the composition as if he were giving the musicians total freedom of interpretation, and to create a wonderful effect of co-thinking, complicity, co- creation for all on stage and in the audience,” Aravin wrote.
Tlendiyev also had an immense talent for improvisation.
“And when he played the solo on the dombra, he could inflate such a tension of expectation that the introduction of the orchestra with a vigorous wave of the hand produced an explosion of emotion, a burst of joy and inspiration. , and a storm of applause from the audience,” he added.
As a composer, his works impressed with their wide range. He has written more than 500 musical pieces, produced numerous kuis (traditional musical compositions) which were widely acclaimed by the public including “Alqissa”, “Father’s Reflections”, “Mahabett” and “Music of Farabi” and composed the music for many films that have become classics of Kazakh cinema, such as “My Name is Kozha”, “Alpamys Goes to School” and “The Steppe Chase”.
For the kui “Akku”, which was performed in the well-known film “Kyz Zhibek”, the composer received recognition from the director of the film, who said that Tlendiyev’s music “made the film a popular film”.
Tlendiyev also collaborated with many talented Kazakh poets, such as Tumanbay Moldagaliyev, Kadyr Myrzaliyev and Mukagali Makatayev to write music for their texts. Once, more than 30 days of uninterrupted work with Makatayev, Tlendiyev wrote 32 songs.
Kazakhstan will celebrate Tlendiiyev’s 100th birthday in 2025 and President Tokayev stressed the importance of the national celebration of this important event to recognize Tlendiyev’s invaluable contribution to Kazakh music.
