The Baltic Sea Festival

For the second year in a row, the Mariinsky Theatre will be taking works by Rodion Shchedrin to the festival. Last year his opera The Enchanted Wanderer was staged, while this year at the Royal Opera House there will be performances of Shchedrin’s ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky. At the two performances on 26 and 27 August, the roles of the Tsar Maiden and Ivan the Fool will be performed by two different casts – Alina Somova who won a Golden Mask award for the role and Alexander Sergeyev, followed by Anastasia Kolegova and Maxim Zyuzin.

Created with the aim of collaborating to resolve ecological problems faced by the Baltic Sea nations, this renowned Swedish festival has been an annual event since 2003 and is a co-project of Valery Gergiev, Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and Mikael Thydén, Director of the Berwaldhallen concert hall. During the festival, in line with tradition, there will be various events run by an ecological forum of the World Wildlife Fund – seminars, symposiums and exhibitions dedicated to the economics and ecology of the region. Maestro Gergiev is “deeply convinced of the fact that for future generations the future of the Baltic Sea is indisputably important” and “the theme of ecology is of fundamental importance” “which is why we come to Stockholm on an annual basis,” the maestro stressed.

This year, events of the anniversary festival events will run from 24 August to 1 September. The festival will open with Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen – a stunning production featuring video art by leading contemporary artist Bill Viola. The next day will see a performance by the Swedish Radio Chorus and Orchestra as well as the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and three sopranos – Nina Stemme, Elin Rombo and Tuuli Lindeberg, the conductor’s stand being taken alternately by Salonen and Gergiev.

For details please go to the festival’s website: www.sverigesradio.se