• Daily events: eight concerts in six days;
• Appearances by Denis Matsuev and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev;
• The world's first ballet galas with audiences present following an enforced break;
• Classical opera performed by stars of the Mariinsky Theatre.
The Mariinsky Theatre is slowly returning to its audiences and from 7 to 12 July will be offering an intense music programme as part of the Stars of the White Nights festival: concert performances of classical operas – Iolanta, Il trovatore and Samson et Dalila – featuring the Mariinsky Opera's finest singers, appearances by Denis Matsuev and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev and the first ballet gala concerts.
The theatre week begins with two opera evenings, at which audiences can expect to see truly stellar casts. On 7 July there will be a performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, dedicated to this year's commemorations marking one hundred and eighty years since the composer's birth. The title role will be sung by Irina Churilova, while she will be partnered by Stanislav Trofimov (René, King of Provence), Sergei Skorokhodov (Count Vaudémont), Alexei Markov (Robert) and Vladislav Sulimsky (Ibn-Hakia). On 8 July Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore will amass another outstanding cast: Tatiana Serjan as Leonora, Ekaterina Semenchuk as Azucena, Najmiddin Mavlyanov as Manrico and Vladislav Sulimsky as the Conte di Luna. Valery Gergiev will be conducting on both evenings.
At the festival on 9 and 10 July there will be a performance by the Mariinsky Theatre's longstanding friend Denis Matsuev, one of Russia's greatest living pianists. On 9 July together with the orchestra under Valery Gergiev he will be performing Dmitry Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto. The programme also includes Rodion Shchedrin's Naughty Limericks and the suite from the ballet Konyok-Gorbunok (The Little Humpbacked Horse) as well as Anatoly Lyadov's Kikimora. On the second evening, Matsuev will be presenting a recital programme featuring works by Robert Schumann, Sergei Prokofiev, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Igor Stravinsky.
At the matinee on Saturday the Mariinsky Theatre will be presenting another opera – a concert performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, while in the evening and on Sunday dance fans can expect to see three gala concerts with stars of the Mariinsky Ballet and the next generation of young performers who have already made a name for themselves. Choreographic miniatures, scenes from ballet classics and contemporary works will be performed by Ekaterina Kondaurova, Oxana Skorik, Alina Somova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Olesya Novikova, Maria Khoreva, Maria Ilyushkina, Timur Askerov, Anderi Yermakov, Kimin Kim, Xander Parish, Vladimir Shklyarov, Konstantin Zverev and Alexander Sergeyev among others. For the company, these performances will be of particular importance as the dancers have not appeared on the stage for more than three months, and the Mariinsky Theatre is the first to have resolved to present a ballet gala for its audiences after such a lengthy break.
All events are to be held at the Mariinsky II, where particular health and safety measures will be employed; these have been developed in collaboration with Russia's Consumer Protection Association. Moreover, the number of seats available is limited to 1,000, with patrons being seated in a chessboard pattern and the use of means of individual protection will be a prerequisite throughout the audience being present in the building.
In returning to performances on the stage, the Mariinsky Theatre plans gradually to reduce the number of online screenings of recordings, which since 19 March have received almost a hundred million hits, and to broadcast live events. Today at 19.00 Moscow Time on mariinsky.tv and via the theatre's social networking sites it will be possible to see a live broadcast of Iolanta.
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