War and Peace to be performed in Warsaw

The Mariinsky Theatre will be taking a patriotic programme to Warsaw consisting of major epic scores of Russian symphony and opera music dedicated to the themes of national heroism and of struggle against invading forces. One key event of the tour will come with Andrei Konchalovsky’s sensational production of Sergei Prokofiev’s opera War and Peace , noted for its “Hollywood scale” – the production involves some two hundred performers, over a thousand costumes and sets weighing more than sixty tonnes. The opera will be performed on 27 and 28 March at the Teatr Wielki – Opera Narodowa in Warsaw. The lead roles will be sung by Mariinsky Opera Company soloists including Irina Mataeva, Yekaterina Goncharova, Yulia Matochkina, Yekaterina Sergeyeva, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Irina Bogachova, Zlata Bulycheva, Svetlana Volkova, Vasily Gerello, Mikhail Petrenko, Sergei Aleksashkin, Alexei Markov, Sergei Skorokhodov, Alexei Steblyanko, Yevgeny Akimov and Eduard Tsanga.

Marking World Theatre Day on 27 March, the opera performances have the support of Polish President Bronisław Komorowski.

The three-day tour to Warsaw will conclude with a concert by the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra at the Concert Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic. On 29 March maestro Gergiev will be conducting Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with pianist Alexei Volodin and Sergei Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky cantata with Ekaterina Semenchuk performing the solo. The concert will take place as part of the XVI Easter Festival, being held in Warsaw between 25 March and 6 April.