• Soloists of the Chorus
• Management of the Chorus
• History of the Chorus

The Mariinsky Theatre Chorus is well known both in Russia and abroad. It is interesting not only because of its high degree of professional musicianship, but also for its history, which is rich in events and is closely linked with the development of Russian music.

In the mid 19^th century, under the guidance of the outstanding opera conductor Eduard Nápravník, the Mariinsky Theatre staged the first productions of acclaimed operas by Borodin, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. The large-scale choral scenes in these operas were brilliantly performed by the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus, an integral and dazzling component part of the Opera Company. The successful development of choral performance at the theatre was based on the lofty professional endeavours of such chorus masters as Karl Kuchera, Ivan Pomazansky, Yevstafy Azeyev and Grigory Kazachenko. The foundations they laid were lovingly maintained by their successors, among them such chorus masters as Vladimir Stepanov, Avenir Mikhailov and Alexander Murin. Andrei Petrenko has been thye Mariinsky Theatre Chorus Master since 2000.

The chorus’ repertoire currently encompasses a vast array of works ranging from numerous Russian and European classics to cantata and oratorio works and choral a cappella works. In addition to Italian, German, French and Russian operas and such works as the Requiems by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi and Maurice Duruflé, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Georgy Sviridov’s St Petersburg cantata performed at the Mariinsky Theatre, the chorus’ repertoire covers a broad range of spiritual music by Dmitry Bortnyansky, Maxim Berezovsky, Artemy Vedel, Stepan Degtyarev, Alexander Arkhangelsky, Alexander Grechaninov, Stevan Mokraniats, Pavel Chesnokov, Igor Stravinsky, Alexander Kastalsky (Fraternal Commemoration), Sergei Rachmaninoff (The All-Night Vigil and The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom) and Pyotr Tchaikovsky (The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom) as well as folkloric music.

The theatre’s chorus possesses a beautiful and powerful sound and an unusually rich sound palette, and during performances the members of the chorus also demonstrate their acting skills when bringing the stage director’s ideas to life. The chorus regularly appears at international festivals and performs in world premieres. Today it is one of the world’s leading choral ensembles. Its repertoire consists of over sixty Russian and European classical operas as well as a huge number of cantata and oratorio works, including music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich, Georgy Sviridov, Valery Gavrilin and Sofia Gubaidulina among other composers.

The Mariinsky Theatre Chorus regularly performs in programmes of the Moscow Easter Festival and the international festival that commemorates Russia Day. It took part in the first performance of Sofia Gubaidulina’s St John’s Passion and St John Easter, Vladimir Martynov’s Vita Nuova and Alexander Smelkov’s The Brothers Karamazov as well as the Russian premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s opera The Enchanted Wanderer (2007).

For its recording of Sofia Gubaidulina’s St John’s Passion in 2003 the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus under Valery Gergiev received a >Grammy nomination in the category “Best Choral Performance”.

In 2009 at the III International Chorus Festival commemorating Russia Day, Andrei Petrenko conducted the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus in the world premiere of Alexander Levin’s Liturgy of St John Chrysostom.

The Mariinsky Theatre Chorus has taken part in a vast number of recordings. Such works by the ensemble as Verdi’s Requiem and Sergei Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky cantata have received great critical acclaim. In 2009 the Mariinsky label released its first disc – Dmitry Shostakovich’s opera The Nose, which was recorded with the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus. The chorus has also taken part in recordings of the Mariinsky label CDs Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer, Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex and Les Noces and Shostakovich: Second and Eleventh Symphonies.