The Mariinsky Theatre's traditional spring festival is emerging as a focal point for admirers of the art of dance on an annual basis. All audiences will find something to suit their tastes in the programme: adherents of the classics, admirers of the legacy of 20^th century masters and those who strive never to miss a single premiere or a visit from international stars

The first holidays in May will be packed with popular productions featuring the company’s leading soloists: the operas L’elisir d’amore and Die Zauberflöte and the ballets The Bronze Horseman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Swan Lake. There will also be two performances of the opera The Snow Maiden, a new production of which will be premiered in April. For the matinee there will be an abridged version for younger audiences while the full version with no musical cuts will be performed in the evening

On 20 February at the Concert Hall soloists of the Academy of Young Opera Singers directed by Larisa Gergieva will be presenting Gaetano Donizetti’s rarely-performed opera Gemma di Vergy. Federico Santi will be conducting

On 14 February Valery Gergiev unveiled a new chamber hall in the south wing of the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre to Olga Lyubimova, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation. St Petersburg has become the first city to be granted a working visit by the minister. Under the baton of maestro Gergiev there was an acoustic test of the new hall, which saw a performance by Mariinsky Opera soloists and the Mariinsky Orchestra as well as by grant-recipients of the Atkins Program

Elena Pankratova, Ekaterina Gubanova, Yusif Eyvazov, Plácido Domingo and Ildar Abdrazakov – these names regularly appear on the playbills of the world's great venues, and in the coming months the performers will be appearing at the Mariinsky Theatre