The Mariinsky Ballet Company in Barcelona

From 21 to 27 November the Mariinsky Ballet Company will be giving six performances of Marius Petipa’s ballet Le Corsaire (revised version by Pyotr Gusev) at the Gran Teatre de Liceu. A star-studded cast will present exacting Catalonian audiences with the adventure-filled and oriental ballet Le Corsaire with its tales of a Sultan’s harems, beautiful slave girls and freedom-loving pirates willing to undertake any task. Medora the Greek slave will be danced by Ulyana Lopatkina, Yekaterina Kondaurova and Viktoria Tereshkina, while the role of the brave pirate Conrad will be performed by Konstantin Zverev, Danila Korsuntsev and Andrei Yermakov. Maria Shirinkina, Anastasia Kolegova and Valeria Martynyuk will be appearing as Gulnare along with Vladimir Shklyarov, Andrei Batalov and Filipp Stepin as Ali. The performances will also feature the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under the baton of Alexei Repnikov. For details please go to the website of the Gran Teatre de Liceu.

The Gran Teatre de Liceu is Barcelona’s most important theatre as well as one of the most capacious and luxuriously decorated auditoriums in the world. Built in the baroque style and located on the famous La Rambla, it opened in 1847 and instantly became the foremost operatic centre for music and culture in Spain. Fyodor Chaliapin, Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras are among the many great artists who have performed there.

In response to the St Petersburg company’s visit, on 29 and 30 November the Mariinsky Theatre will be hosting a tour by the Ballet Nacional de España, which will present four one-act ballets – Caprichos, Dualia, Danza y Tronío and La Leyenda. On 30 November at the Concert Hall, Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado will also present concert performances of the operas L’Heure espagnole by Maurice Ravel and La vida breve by Manuel de Falla. Events marking the Year of Spain and Russia will continue to run from 10 to 13 December in Valencia and Madrid, where the Mariinsky Ballet Company and Symphony Orchestra will be appearing under the baton of Valery Gergiev.