The tour of Russia continues

The week-long tour by soloists of the Mariinsky Opera Company, Chorus and Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev opened on 10 September with a charity concert in Krymsk. The Mariinsky Theatre and Valery Gergiev were given a hearty reception in the town. The performers were met at the doors of the Rus cultural centre by the Golden Autumn folk Cossack chorus.

ITAR-TASS related that, prior to the concert, Valery Gergiev addressed the residents of Krymsk in the auditorium: “You know how the country and the entire world have reacted to the tragedy that took place here. And we musicians simply wished to come and perform for you. You know that you have many friends, not just in the Mariinsky Theatre but all over the world – people who care about what is happening in Russia.” 
The conductor met teachers and pupils of the Krymsk School of Arts and promised them help and support. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus gave a performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil under the baton of Andrei Petrenko.

The same day, there were two concerts in Krasnodar: the first, a charitable event, was for pupils at music schools, arts colleges from throughout the Kuban region and prize-winners of various performing arts competitions. The ITAR-TASS correspondent noted that the auditorium of the Leonard Gatow Creative Union “Premiere” Music Theatre was packed. Following the concert, Valery Gergiev spoke with the young performers, answered their questions and had a photo-shoot with them. The maestro then gave a press conference for the Kuban media, stating that “we wanted to bring the region, which has suffered severe trials, something life-affirming. We wanted to give you something that grand Italian opera gives – dazzle, delight, tragedy and huge power. Days such as these should see performances of works with tremendous power.” At the close of the press conference Valery Gergiev said he hoped the residents of Krasnodar would build a good concert hall: “You need a new concert hall, a good one and not too expensive. The residents of the town here may be against the opinions of musicians who are not local, but you asked for my opinion and I responded.”

The same evening there was a concert performance of Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor in Krasnodar with Mariinsky Theatre soloists Zhanna Dombrovskaya, Sergei Skorokhodov and Vladislav Sulimsky.
While meeting Valery Gergiev, the Governor of the Krasnodar Region Alexander Tkachev thanked him and the opera singer Anna Netrebkofor their help to the residents of the Krymsk Region: “I am grateful to you and to Anna Netrebko for your support of the region in these difficult days.”

On 11 September the theatre’s Symphony Orchestra gave a concert at the Lipetsk Regional Palace of Culture.

Today Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra will be opening the fifth festival in Samara In Commemoration of Mstislav Rostropovich. On 12 and 13 September the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre will be hosting three concerts featuring highlights from operas by Charles Gounod and Gaetano Donizetti, Sergei Prokofiev’s cantata Alexander Nevsky, Johannes Brahms Second Symphony and Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique. The final charitable concert of the festival includes a performance of Act III of Richard Wagner’s opera Siegfried starring Mariinsky Opera Company soloist Olga Savova and tenor Simon O’Neill from New Zealand as well as the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev.

On 18 September Valery Gergiev will open the 230^th season of the Mariinsky Theatre with Modest Musorgsky’s opera Khovanshchina featuring Olga Borodina as Marfa. The same evening will see the first concert of the seventh season at the Concert Hall which includes the first ever Russian performance by the Youth Orchestra of Caracas, a promising ensemble with many talented musicians between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two under the baton of conductor Dietrich Paredes. The Caracas Orchestra emerged as one of the most stunning ensembles as part of the Venezuelan National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras and Choruses, a programme conceived by José Antonio Abreu thirty-six years ago.