Interviews

The Mariinsky Theatre’s eventful 243^rd season is drawing to a close. The theatrical year at Mariinsky II will conclude on 6 August with the premiere performance of Eldar Aliev’s production of Romeo and Juliet, presented as part of the Primorsky Stage’s tour. The final events of the summer at the Historic Stage will be performances of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake by the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre on 7 (at 13:00 and 19:00), 8 (at 13:00 and 19:00), 9 August (at 13:00 and 19:00).

The season’s artistic achievements include seven major premieres and two eagerly awaited revivals. Audiences saw new large-scale productions of Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, created by the celebrated Bulgarian team of stage director Orlin Anastassov and set designer Denis Ivanov. The Concert Hall welcomed two productions conceived especially for its space: Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel, directed by Anna Shishkina, and Rachmaninoff’s The Miserly Knight, directed by Alexander Ponomaryov. To mark the 270^th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, the theatre presented Idomeneo, rè di Creta in a production by Roman Kocherzhevsky.

The ballet repertoire was enriched by the premieres of Vyacheslav Samodurov’s Round Dances, set to music by Shchedrin, and a Mariinsky version of Leonid Yacobson’s Brilliant Divertissement to music by Glinka. Two long-awaited works also returned to the playbill: Boris Tishchenko’s ballet Yaroslavna. The Eclipse, choreographed by Vladimir Varnava, and Roland Petit’s iconic Le Jeune homme et la mort, set to music by Bach.

More than 2,000 events took place across the Mariinsky Theatre’s St Petersburg venues during the 243^rd season: 434 ballet performances, 600 opera performances, 370 concerts and 711 cultural and educational programmes, including lectures, practical theatre studies sessions, events for children, and backstage tours of the Historic Stage and Mariinsky II, which have become immensely popular with residents and visitors to St Petersburg alike. Around two million people attended the theatre over the course of the season.

Among the Mariinsky’s major initiatives this season were the Mozart 270 project, a series of themed days devoted to outstanding composers – Modest Musorgsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Rodion Shchedrin – and A Weekend with Verdi. Richard Wagner’s monumental tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen was performed twice. The theatre also marked dozens of anniversaries associated with works, productions, great composers and artists.

The Mariinsky’s renowned annual festivals continued as well: the XIII Mariinsky International Organ Festival; the XX Mariinsky International Piano Festival; the X Virtuosi of the Flute & Northern Lyre International Festival; and the XXXIV Stars of the White Nights Music Festival.

Two major festivals presented jointly with the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia deserve particular mention: Maya and Rodion, honouring the memory of the great Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin, and Prokofiev: One of Our Own, marking the anniversary of the great composer’s birth.

“Prokofiev’s 135^th anniversary could simply have been marked with a few commemorative events in April. Instead, we decided that our two theatres should celebrate this perhaps not especially round but extremely important anniversary on a truly grand scale. I believe this is the right and most interesting way forward today. New generations of artists are emerging, and exchanges between the two theatres give performers the opportunity to appear in an extraordinary range of works. By joining our creative forces and enriching the programmes of both theatres, we replace competition with cooperation – and that is enormously valuable,” says Valery Gergiev.

Russia’s two leading musical theatres continued their close collaboration and fruitful artistic exchange throughout the season. The Bolshoi Theatre brought Shostakovich’s The Bright Stream and Auber’s Marco Spada to St Petersburg. In Moscow the Mariinsky presented Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor in concert, Prokofiev’s War and Peace and The Fiery Angel, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Wagner’s Parsifal. Many of these performances featured soloists, chorus, mime ensemble, and orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre.

The Mariinsky’s The Legend of Love by Melikov ceremonially opened the XV International Ballet Competition at the Bolshoi Theatre. Other joint projects during the season included Prokofiev’s operas The Love for Three Oranges, Betrothal in a Monastery and The Gambler, all presented at the Bolshoi.

Together, the two companies also undertook two major projects away from their home stages: the XXV Moscow Easter Festival and the III Genius of Place Festival.

The anniversary edition of the Moscow Easter Festival was the largest in its history. Over twenty-nine days Valery Gergiev and a combined symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres travelled more than 20,000 kilometres as part of the symphonic programme, performing in almost forty Russian towns and cities.

The third season of Genius of Place, a festival of musical tributes held in the birthplaces of great composers, also set avrecord. This year its geography encompasses seven cities: Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Tikhvin, Votkinsk, Smolensk, Oranienbaum and St Petersburg. The festival will conclude ceremonially in the autumn with celebrations marking the 120^th anniversary of the birth of Dmitri Shostakovich.

The events are held with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, and ROSCONCERT.

Another first this season saw leading dancers from the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres perform together at the Mariinsky Far East Festival in Vladivostok.

More than 200,000 people attended the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre during the season. Its programme comprised 119 ballet performances, 182 opera performances and thirty-five concerts.

The season brought a wealth of premieres: Banevich’s opera The Story of Kai and Gerda; Puccini’s La bohème in concert; and the ballets La Fille mal gardée, to music by Hérold, and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. The world premiere of Alexander Smelkov’s cantata God’s Pipe took place, while the project A Portrait of a Singer in an Interior made a successful return to the Chamber Hall.

The Primorsky Stage also held two major festivals: the X Mariinsky International Far East Festival and the III Far East Easter Festival.

Over the course of the season the Primorsky Stage company gave more than 350 performances both at home and on tour. Its touring geography encompassed St Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Artyom, Partizansk, Bolshoy Kamen, Korsakov and the village of Knyaze-Volkonskoye.

The Mariinsky Theatre’s branch in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania welcomed almost 60,000 visitors, presenting thirty-four ballet performances, seventy-four opera performances, 113 concerts and thirty-five guided tours.

Its premieres included Vladimir Milov’s opera Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and the ballet The Count of Monte Cristo to music by Édouard Lalo; the branch also gave the concert premiere of a production of Puccini’s La bohème.

This season also saw the launch of a new festival, The Beginning of Immortality, dedicated to the memory and courage of generations. Other major events included the VII Mariinsky–Vladikavkaz International Festival, the Choral Music Festival marking the centenary of the outstanding Ossetian composer and arts figure Arkady Acheyev, and the XXV Moscow Easter Festival.

The company toured to St Petersburg, including Kronstadt, as well as Pskov, Astrakhan and Odintsovo.

The St Petersburg company’s touring programme reached a record nine cities in China this year: Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Kunming, Changsha, Xi’an, Shenzhen and Yanguan. Performances also took place in Yerevan, Dubai, Moscow, Kazan, Irkutsk, Tikhvin, Pushkinskiye Gory, the Sirius Federal Territory, Vladivostok and Vladikavkaz.

At its own venues during the 243^rd season the Mariinsky welcomed more than forty visiting companies from Russia, China, Türkiye, Uzbekistan and Armenia.

One of the highlights of the summer at the Historic Stage was the inter-union concert Music of the Theatre, marking the 150^th anniversary of the Union of Theatre Workers of Russia. Masterpieces of world music were presented within a visual environment inspired by the art of the future and technological innovation.

The concert continued the Mariinsky’s active exploration of ways in which classical music can engage with contemporary technology. During the 243^rd season the theatre gave the first public performances of Mandragora, an opera created with the aid of artificial intelligence. It also premiered a new production of Idomeneo, rè di Creta, bringing together the world of antiquity and innovative stage design, and presented the unique project Symphony of Innovation, which combines classical music with cutting-edge technology.

The Stravinsky Hall – the Mariinsky Theatre’s newest and fourth-largest performance venue in St Petersburg – became a true centre of attraction for the city’s music lovers this season. Bright, welcoming and multifunctional, with exceptional acoustics, the hall consistently offers programmes of the highest calibre and impresses even the most discerning audiences.

Today it not only introduces listeners to promising young artists but also offers the opportunity to encounter internationally renowned performers in a more intimate and informal setting. At the same time it serves as a kind of creative laboratory: new additions to the Mariinsky Theatre’s repertoire are often heard here first, alongside exclusive programmes that in many cases can be experienced nowhere else but the Stravinsky Hall.

Just over a month remains before the close of the Mariinsky Theatre’s 243^rd season. By tradition, this is the moment when the theatrical year reaches its culmination. Rare, major and exclusive events – often unavailable during the regular season – appear across the theatre’s stages in a dazzling abundance. At the height of summer the concentration of stars from the world opera stage is especially remarkable. In July and early August Mariinsky Theatre productions will feature Hibla Gerzmava, Vladislav Sulimsky, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Yulia Matochkina, Alexey Markov, Elena Stikhina, Mikhail Petrenko, Olga Borodina, Tatiana Serjan, Irina Churilova and Sergei Skorokhodov.

On 11 July Mariinsky II will present one of the great rarities and monuments of French opera: Hector Berlioz’ Les Troyens. This ancient-world counterpart to War and Peace astonishes with its epic scale. To present this monumental five-hour work is an undertaking few theatres in the world are prepared to attempt. Valery Gergiev will conduct the forthcoming performance, with a truly star-studded cast in the principal roles: Yulia Matochkina, Ivan Gyngazov, Tatiana Serjan, Yuri Vorobiev, Anna Kiknadze and Alexey Markov.

The following day, 12 July, Verdi’s tempestuous drama Simon Boccanegra will unfold at Mariinsky II against the spellbinding backdrop of the Ligurian Sea, Vladislav Sulimsky in the title role, Christian Knapp conducts.

Vladislav Sulimsky will delight his admirers with two further summer appearances at the Mariinsky Theatre. On 26 July he will sing Rogozhin in Weinberg’s The Idiot – a role in which the renowned baritone achieved resounding international success at the Salzburg Festival in 2024. On 30 July Sulimsky and the incomparable Elena Stikhina will appear in Tchaikovsky’s The Enchantress, a gripping opera charged with passion and psychological confrontation.

A series of appearances also awaits the magnificent Yulia Matochkina. Following Les Troyens, the singer will return to the Mariinsky stage three more times. On 15 July, together with the Mariinsky Orchestra and Christian Knapp, she will perform Poulenc’s mono-opera La Voix humaine at the Concert Hall. A special place in the programme belongs to Richard Wagner’s great Romantic myth, Lohengrin. On 1 August the principal roles in this grand mystery production will be performed by stars of the Austro-German repertoire: Sergei Skorokhodov, Elena Stikhina and Yulia Matochkina. Valery Gergiev conducts.

The unsurpassed opera diva Hibla Gerzmava, People’s Artist of Russia, will appear in Puccini’s Tosca on 28 July. This gripping musical drama of power, betrayal, and love, captivating in its melodic beauty, will be conducted by Valery Gergiev.

A sumptuous gift awaits St Petersburg audiences from the brilliant Ekaterina Semenchuk. A singer of extraordinary range and artistry, she will perform the role of the cruel Princess Turandot in Puccini’s opera of the same name on 31 July. On 2 August Semenchuk will also take part in the ceremonial closing of the season at Mariinsky II, appearing in one of her signature roles: Marfa in Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina.

This Saturday, 5 July, Mariinsky II will present Rimsky-Korsakov’s great epic opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, conducted by Valery Gergiev. A spiritual testament by the great Russian composer, the work is striking in its philosophical depth and musical grandeur. The central role will be performed by Irina Churilova, the Mariinsky’s definitive Fevroniya. Joining her on stage will be Denis Zakirov, Yuri Vorobiev and Svetlana Karpova.

The July Russian opera programme also features star casts in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, with Anzhelika Minasova (in the title role) and Mikhail Petrenko on 8 July, and Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, with People’s Artist of Russia Olga Borodina as the Countess on 17 July.

On 3 and 4 July, with performances at 13:00 and 19:00, Mariinsky II will present the premiere performances of a new production of Amilcare Ponchielli’s opera La Gioconda as part of the XXXIV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights. The production has been created by celebrated Bulgarian artists: stage director Orlin Anastassov and designer Denis Ivanov. Their creative partnership is already well known to St Petersburg audiences: their Mariinsky productions of Verdi’s Ernani and Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov have both enjoyed great success. This time Anastassov and Ivanov return to the Italian classics, taking on one of the most popular operas of its age. Valery Gergiev will conduct all premiere performances.

La Gioconda was first performed on 8 April 1876 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. It was this work that brought Amilcare Ponchielli the long-awaited fame he had sought, and the opera was met with extraordinary success. Equally successful productions in other European countries and in America soon followed. On 18 January 1888 La Gioconda received its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre. Today, however, the opera is heard far less often on the world’s stages. It has long been absent from the St Petersburg repertoire, and the new production is intended to fill that gap.

The plot of La Gioconda is drawn from Victor Hugo’s play Angelo, tyran de Padoue (“Angelo, Tyrant of Padua”). Librettist Tobia Gorrio – Arrigo Boito – changed the names of the characters and transferred the action from Padua to 17th century Venice. The events unfold against a vivid and picturesque backdrop: carnival, a regatta, the famous Piazza San Marco with the majestic Doge’s Palace, and the column crowned by the winged lion. Yet despite the festive masquerade surrounding them, the city is enveloped in a dark atmosphere. Shadows and mists over the canals foretell fatal passions. Jealousy and envy, imagined and real murders pursue the principal characters: Barnaba, the cruel spy of the Inquisition, and the street singer Gioconda. Brave and untameable, like the sea that surrounds her, she resists evil and, against all odds, saves the man she loves, granting him happiness at the cost of her own life.

The music of La Gioconda is rich in contrasts. The carefree merriment of the Venetian carnival is set against the characters’ profound inner turmoil. Intricate ensembles and choruses, together with piercingly expressive arias, make the opera both compelling for audiences and highly desirable for many singers. One of the most recognisable musical episodes in La Gioconda is the Dance of the Hours. This ballet suite consists of four episodes, each representing a different part of the day: dawn, day, dusk and night. The dance symbolises the eternal struggle between good and evil, light and darkness.

Stage director Orlin Anastassov and designer Denis Ivanov are staging this Venetian story in St Petersburg – the city known as the Venice of the North – for the first time. The opera offers them the opportunity to bring to the Mariinsky stage one of the most beautiful periods in the history of this extraordinary Italian city. The production’s musical director is Valery Gergiev. Lighting design created by Anatoly Lyapin; music prepared by Grigory Yakerson; chief chorus master is Konstantin Rylov; choreography produced by Alexander Sergeev.

“When the curtain rises, the first sensation the audience should always experience is beauty. La Gioconda offers enormous possibilities for creating something exceptional. In this production I want to show the true splendour of Venetian style – to make people feel that they are present in that time, part of those events. The tallest structure in our production, the wave at the centre of the stage, is immense. It is a message: the art we create is just as boundless, just as timeless. It does not matter whether I create something or someone else does – we are all only a small part of the vast, infinite world of art,” says stage director Orlin Anastassov.

The production’s scenography is remarkable for its use of extraordinary innovative technology. Its central set piece is a vast structure weighing fifteen tonnes and rising fourteen metres high. This movable construction, which in some acts takes the form of a gigantic wave, towers above the characters and fully immerses the audience in the action on stage. The colourful costumes convey Italian folk character with striking precision, visible in the lace, embroidery and other details. Around sixty carnival masks, decorated with coloured stones, were also created specially for the production.

“Piazza San Marco explodes with passion and rises like a wave. It transforms, the perspectives shift, and the audience seems to drift along the Grand Canal. The column with the lion and the paving stones are exact copies of the originals; a real gondola glides along the island; and in the second act the same square becomes a ship. The production is dominated by greens and marine shades – sky and sea, as Enzo sings in his aria,” says set and costume designer Denis Ivanov.

The XXXIV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights takes place with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The festival’s Artistic Director is Valery Gergiev.

On 24 and 26 June, as part of the XXXIV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights, Chinese conductor Daye Lin will appear with the Mariinsky Orchestra at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. Audiences will hear a vivid symphonic programme and a performance of Puccini’s Turandot.

Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Wuxi Symphony Orchestra, Daye Lin is also a Distinguished Professor at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, an Adjunct Professor at the School of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and a Guest Professor at the Shanghai and Tianjin conservatories of music. In 2012 he won 1^st prize at the Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt, becoming the first Chinese winner of this prestigious contest. In 2023 he was named one of Shenzhen’s Top Ten Outstanding Young People.

On 24 June Daye Lin and the Mariinsky Orchestra will present St Petersburg audiences with a magnificent musical programme. The concert will feature Respighi’s famous Roman Trilogy – a cycle of symphonic poems celebrating the Eternal City, with its rich history and inimitable atmosphere. In this trilogy, which brings together Fontane di Roma (“Fountains of Rome”), Pini di Roma (“Pines of Rome”) and Feste Romane (“Roman Festivals”), Respighi succeeded not only in encompassing different eras but also in expressing the distinctive national character of the music. The programme will also include Southern Radiance by contemporary Chinese composer Wang Danhong.

On 26 June an exquisite blend of Chinese colour and Italian tradition will unfold in Puccini’s final opera, Turandot, conducted by Daye Lin. This drama of a cruel princess, whose icy heart is ultimately melted by love, combines an ancient fairy-tale plot with the aesthetics of verismo and is rightly regarded as a masterpiece – the crowning achievement of the great composer’s creative path. The leading roles will be performed by Zhanna Dombrovskaya, Karlen Manukyan (Bolshoi Theatre of Russia), Yekaterina Goncharova, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Andrei Spekhov, Alexander Timchenko and Oleg Balashov.

The XXXIV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights takes place with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The festival’s Artistic Director is Valery Gergiev.

On 29 May St Petersburg will host the ceremonial opening of the Mariinsky Theatre’s largest and most eagerly awaited festival – Stars of the White Nights. Each year the festival becomes a powerful centre of attraction for connoisseurs of music and theatre. Its programme brings together the season’s major premieres, a wealth of musical rarities, exclusive concert programmes, outstanding guest performances, and, of course, appearances by the brightest stars of the international stage. During the first month of the festival, productions will feature Ildar Abdrazakov, Albina Shagimuratova, Hibla Gerzmava, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Elena Stikhina, Sergei Skorokhodov, Alexey Markov, Mikhail Vekua, Zhenisbek Piyazov, Juan Sancho and Veronica Cangemi.

The operatic programme of the XXXIV Stars of the White Nights will open on 29 May at the New Stage with one of the most talked-about premieres of the current season – Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov. The title role will be performed by People’s Artist of Russia Ildar Abdrazakov, the celebrated bass and international star. His stage partners include Alexey Markov, Yevgeny Akimov, Yuri Vorobiev, Roman Shirokikh, Andrei Popov and Miroslav Molchanov. The performance on 31 May at 20:00 will also feature Abdrazakov. Valery Gergiev conducts. The singer will return to the Mariinsky stage on 16 June, performing another of his signature roles – Philip II in Verdi’s Don Carlo.

On 4 June the Concert Hall will present Wagner’s Tannhäuser in a production by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev created specially for this venue. The title role will be sung by Mikhail Vekua, the Mariinsky Theatre’s outstanding Wagnerian tenor.

On 5 June a superb ensemble of singers will present Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, a masterpiece of Romantic bel canto, at the New Stage. The title role will be sung by Honoured Artist of Russia Albina Shagimuratova, one of the world’s most celebrated interpreters of Lucia. Her partners on stage will include Sergei Skorokhodov and Alexey Markov.

On 15 June Mariinsky II will present one of the treasures of the world operatic repertoire – Verdi’s Otello. The role of Desdemona will be performed by People’s Artist of Russia Hibla Gerzmava, whose interpretation gives the heroine true Shakespearean depth.

On 19 June the New Stage will host Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila, a rare and exquisite jewel of French music. The performance will feature the incomparable Ekaterina Semenchuk, the renowned mezzo-soprano and an exemplary Dalila.

On 26 June Elena Stikhina will delight St Petersburg audiences with her appearance at the Historic Stage. The singer will perform Leonora in Verdi’s La forza del destino, the opera the great composer wrote specially for the city on the Neva.

A special event of the festival’s first week will be the inter-union concert Music of the Theatre, marking the 150th anniversary of the Union of Theatre Workers of Russia. On 3 June at 19:00 an entire constellation of performers will appear at the Historic Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The concert will feature Hibla Gerzmava, Olga Borodina, Tatiana Serjan, Evgenia Muravieva, Irina Churilova, Yevgeny Nikitin, Sergei Skorokhodov, Viktoria Tereshkina, Alexander Sergeev and others.

The following day, 4 June, Mariinsky II will host the first Russian performance of a production from the Alisher Navoi Bolshoi Theatre in Tashkent – Handel’s Tamerlano, staged by the acclaimed Italian director Stefano Poda. The principal roles will be performed by an international cast: Zhenisbek Piyazov (Uzbekistan), Juan Sancho (Spain) and Veronica Cangemi (Argentina). Alibek Kabdurakhmanov conducts.

The XXXIV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights takes place with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. This year the festival will run until 24 July, with events spanning all Mariinsky Theatre venues in St Petersburg. The festival’s Artistic Director is Valery Gergiev.

On 22 May the Chengdu Grand Theatre hosted the premiere of a new production of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, marking the centenary of the opera’s world premiere, which took place at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in 1926.

Valery Gergiev served as the music director and conductor of the production. Jackie Chan directed the staging.

The project brought together an impressive international team. Musicians of the China National Symphony Orchestra and the Mariinsky Orchestra took part in the production, alongside performers from leading Italian musical theatres. The project united artists from different countries and cultures in a shared act of creativity, affirming the power of art beyond borders.

This evening, Valery Gergiev will return to the podium to conduct the joint international orchestra in a concert programme featuring Modest Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Maurice Ravel’s Boléro and La Valse, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

The soloist will be Chinese violinist Gao Can.

The Chengdu project stands as a vivid example of cultural dialogue and international musical collaboration, bringing artists from different countries together on one stage in the name of art and mutual understanding.

On 29 May St Petersburg will welcome the ceremonial opening of the Mariinsky Theatre’s largest and most eagerly awaited annual event – the Music Festival Stars of the White Nights. It crowns the theatre season and draws connoisseurs of classical music from around the world. It offers audiences a chance to experience unforgettable performances in the heart of Russia’s cultural capital. Major premieres, rare repertoire, and appearances by leading international artists come together in the unique atmosphere of the white nights. This year the festival runs from 29 May to 24 July and spans all Mariinsky Theatre venues in St Petersburg.

The operatic programme opens on 29 May on the Mariinsky II stage with the season’s headline premiere – Boris Godunov by Modest Musorgsky. Renowned Bulgarian director Orlin Anastassov and designer Denis Ivanov have created a large-scale new production of this monumental drama. Further performances follow on 30 and 31 May at 13:00 and 19:00.

The ballet programme begins at the Historic Stage with a cornerstone of the classical repertoire – Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. On 29 May Maria Ilyushkina and Even Capitaine take the leading roles. On 30 May at 13:00 the festival presents a notable debut: Maria Bulanova appears as Odette–Odile for the first time, partnered by Nikita Korneyev as Siegfried. That evening at 19:00 Maria Khoreva and Timur Askerov perform the principal roles. The end of the month also features Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev (31 May at 13:00 and 19:00). In the evening performance Victoria Tereshkina and Roman Belyakov lead the cast.

The Concert Hall launches its festival programme with the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble under the direction of Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici. The ensemble, known for performing on period string instruments, has prepared a special surprise programme. It returns on 31 May at 19:00. Earlier that day, at 13:00, the hall hosts a performance for younger audiences – Once Upon a Time There Lived Bach.

The programme will be expanded.

The XXXIV Music Festival Stars of the White Nights takes place with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Valery Gergiev serves as Artistic Director of the festival.

The XXV Moscow Easter Festival will take place from 12 April to 10 May. This anniversary season sets a new record both in scale and in duration. The festival retains its traditional strands – Symphonic, Choral and Bell-ringing programmes – as well as its core principles: charitable, educational, and outreach activities that bring together audiences across Russia. The XXV Moscow Easter Festival takes place with the support of the Moscow Government and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, and with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’.

Major venues in Moscow and across the regions will welcome internationally acclaimed artists and legendary ensembles. Their performances will mark significant anniversaries, including the 135^th anniversary of Sergei Prokofiev and the 120^th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich. This season also pays special tribute to the 90^th anniversary of Yuri Luzhkov, whose name remains inseparably linked to the history of the festival.

“The dedication of the Moscow Easter Festival to Yuri Luzhkov rests on deep foundations. His contribution to the support of cultural initiatives and to the shaping of Russia’s contemporary cultural environment is difficult to overestimate. It was in collaboration with Yuri Mikhailovich, and with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, that the organisational, social, and spiritual principles of the festival were established – principles that have largely defined its further development and its significant place in the cultural life of the country,” said Valery Gergiev.

On 11 April, on the eve of the festival and of Easter, the Mariinsky II stage will present Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s epic mystery The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Alexei Stepanyuk’s production draws on the traditions of Russian icon painting, emphasising the prayerful character and spiritual depth of the score. The principal roles will be performed by Irina Churilova, Nikolai Gassiev, Yuri Vorobiev, Alexander Trofimov, Alexey Markov and Svetlana Karpova.

The festival will open ceremonially, as tradition dictates, on Easter Sunday. On 12 April at 20:00 a combined symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres will perform at the Historic Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre under Valery Gergiev. The programme includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture, Stravinsky’s The Firebird suite, Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite (Ala and Lolli) and his Symphony No. 5.

As part of the Symphonic Programme, Valery Gergiev and leading musicians from Russia’s two principal theatres will travel more than twenty thousand kilometres over twenty-nine days, visiting nearly forty towns and cities. In addition to Moscow, performances will take place in Tver, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Tikhvin, St Petersburg, Cherepovets, Vologda, Kirov, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Surgut, Tyumen, Omsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Ufa, Orenburg, Saratov, Astrakhan, Vladikavkaz, Rostov-on-Don, Saransk, Penza, Samara, Kazan, Almetyevsk, Naberezhnye Chelny and others. Votkinsk, the birthplace of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and Smolensk, the birthplace of Mikhail Glinka, will host joint events of the XXV Moscow Easter Festival and the 3^rd Music Festival Genius of the Place.

On 9 May, Victory Day, a combined orchestra of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, conducted by Valery Gergiev, will give a large-scale open-air concert at Poklonnaya Hill, traditionally attended by thousands. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, public organisations, and students of Moscow’s arts schools will be invited.

The Far East Easter Festival will take place for the third time this year as an annual extension of the Moscow Easter Festival. From 12 to 28 April the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will perform in Sakhalin, Primorsky, and Khabarovsk regions.

The Choral Programme will feature twenty-nine ensembles from across Russia, including Moscow, St Petersburg, Suzdal, Perm, Yessentuki, Ivanovo, Arkhangelsk, and from South Ossetia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and China. Performances will take place in churches, concert halls, care centres, rehabilitation facilities, and institutions supporting family welfare. For the first time the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre will also host choral performances.

Choral events will extend beyond Moscow to numerous towns and cities, including Reutov, Balashikha, Zvenigorod, Istra, Dmitrov, Yegoryevsk, Klin, Krasnogorsk, Shchyolkovo, Sergiyev Posad, Odintsovo, Zaraysk, Kolomna, Podolsk, Serpukhov, Kashira, Alexandrov, Rostov Veliky, Vladimir, Suzdal, Murom, Tver, Staritsa, Tula and Arkhangelsk.

The Bell-ringing Programme will include forty-four concerts in churches across Moscow, St Petersburg, Istra, Zvenigorod, Krasnogorsk, Rybinsk, Kaluga, Yekaterinburg and Feodosiya. More than fifty professional bell-ringers from Russia and Belarus will take part. As always, these performances remain open and accessible to all.

Over the years the Moscow Easter Festival has grown into one of the largest and most anticipated cultural events in Russia. It stands not only as a celebration of music for millions but also as a unique platform for international cultural dialogue. Thousands of performers from around the world have taken part – from globally renowned artists to emerging talents, including laureates of the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Valery Gergiev and the Moscow Government founded the Moscow Easter Festival in 2002. In 2003 it received national project status with the support of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin.

On 24 and 25 April (at 12:00 and 19:00) and on 26 April at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia’s Historic Stage, as well as on 29 and 30 April and 1 May (at 12:00 and 18:00) at Mariinsky II, the renowned Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe of China will return for a second гастроли in Russia.

The Chinese virtuoso performers, who captivated audiences in St Petersburg and Moscow in 2024 with their breathtaking feats, once again present the spectacular acrobatic drama Swan as part of their spring tour in the two capitals.

Swan traces the emergence of the unique genre of “ballet on shoulders” and the creation of the world’s first acrobatic drama inspired by Swan Lake. The story unfolds through the artistic journey of Yu Meng, encompassing triumphs and setbacks, perseverance and ultimate success. It is both a metaphorical narrative of Chinese acrobatic art and a tribute to the resilience and dedication of every performer.

The production seamlessly combines elements of drama, acrobatics, dance and Chinese shoulder ballet, creating a striking and immersive theatrical experience.

The performance has received support from the National Arts Fund of China and has won numerous prestigious awards, including honours for performance, staging and visual design. During its previous tour to Russia, Swan was warmly received by audiences and highly praised by representatives of the Chinese Embassy as “an outstanding example of the innovative fusion of Chinese and Western art”.

Founded in 1959, the Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe of China preserves and develops the rich traditions of Chinese acrobatics. By integrating contemporary dance, artistic gymnastics, theatre and other art forms, the company has established a distinctive modern performance style.

The troupe enjoys international acclaim, having received more than a hundred awards and titles both in China and abroad for its contribution to the development of contemporary acrobatic art and international cultural exchange. In recent years the company has toured extensively across Asia, Africa, Europe, North and Latin America and Oceania.

From 8 to 14 April the Mariinsky Theatre will present the tenth anniversary edition of the International Flute and Harp Music Festival Virtuosi of the Flute & Northern Lyre. The festival was conceived and created by Sofia Kiprskaya and Denis Lupachev.

Audiences in the Northern Capital of Russia can look forward to seven outstanding concerts featuring leading instrumentalists of today, masterpieces of the repertoire, original transcriptions for harp and flute, and world premieres of works written especially for the festival’s participants.

Two particularly significant events will precede the festival. On 4 April the Rachmaninoff Hall will host The Musical Future of Russia, a concert showcasing gifted students from Russian and European music institutions. On 6 April the Concert Hall will present a symphonic evening in memory of Yoko Nagae Ceschina – the Japanese harpist, patron and long-standing friend and partner of the Mariinsky Theatre. The Mariinsky Orchestra will perform under Valery Gergiev.

The festival opens on 8 April with a gala concert. In the year marking the 270^th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s birth, his Concerto for Flute and Harp will symbolically launch the celebrations. The event will bring together artists from the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, alongside distinguished musicians from Switzerland, Serbia, China and Syria.

On 9 April audiences will hear the harp programme Uniting Worlds. Opera and ballet soloists, the Mariinsky Chamber Choir and leading instrumentalists will take part. The evening will introduce listeners to the unique sounds of the Syrian qanun, the Chinese guzheng and both classical and Celtic harps. The concert is directed by Yuri Smekalov.

On 10 April the Stravinsky Hall will host an evening of chamber music featuring world premieres composed especially for the festival. The concert, A Tribute to Teachers, honours the memory of distinguished mentors, including Asya Varosyan, Vera Dulova, Grigory Korchmar, Sergey Slonimsky, Lidiya Gordzevich, Tatiana Tauer, Boris Tishchenko, Igor Boguslavsky, Sergey Banevich, Fyodor Stepanov and Ivan Pushechnikov.

On 11 April the Concert Hall will welcome the renowned international flautists Yu Yuan (China) and Sébastian Jacot (Switzerland).

The festival will conclude on 14 April with a gala at the Concert Hall. Soloists from Russia, Germany and China will perform with the Mariinsky Orchestra. The programme includes Quantz’ Concerto for Two Flutes, Romberg’s Lunaaeternalis, Weiner’s Romance for Cello and Harp, Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto, Eduard Kiprsky’s Elegiac Concertino for Harp, Sibelius’ Violin Concerto (in a transcription for flute) and Tatiana Ivanova’s Heroic Music for hurdy-gurdy.

In addition, the festival will feature a series of open masterclasses led by distinguished artists from Serbia, China, Switzerland, Germany and Russia.

To mark the anniversary, the Mariinsky Theatre offers a special themed subscription package, allowing audiences to attend concerts from Virtuosi of the Flute & Northern Lyre at reduced prices when purchasing tickets for three or more events.