The Ankara State Opera and Ballet will present the opera "Murat IV" by Turkish opera's great, composer and conductor Okan Demiriş, who passed away in 2010, today in Ankara province.

The opera, which has been performed nearly 200 times after its world premiere in Istanbul on May 3, 1980, stars Erdem Baydar, Tuncay Doğu, Özgür Savaş Gençtürk, Şafak Güç (Antalya State Opera and Ballet guest), Sayra Seyhan Geçim, Reyhan Görbil and Mehlika Karadeniz in the leading roles.

The three-act opera, the libretto of which is by Turan Oflazoğlu, is presented by Haldun Özörten.

The opera tells the conquest period in Ottoman history, the mysterious life of the palace and the life story of Murat IV, who became the Ottoman sultan at the age of 11.

"Murat IV," which was composed by Demiriş for his wife Leyla, a legendary soprano of Turkish opera, will be performed in her memory as the first performance after the composer's death. The conductors of the opera are Sunay Muratov and Murat Kodallı. The stage design is by Özgür Usta, and costume design is by Gazal Erten. Bülent Arslan designed the lighting, choreography is by Deniz Alp and the choirmaster is Giampaolo Vessela.