The press at the  Mariinsky Orchestra’s concerts in North Carolina, USA

James R. Oestrich, columnist of the New York Times, noted first and foremost that “On Monday evening, in works by Matthias Pintscher, Shostakovich and Strauss, the players sounded none the worse for the ir scramble. On Tuesday the y sounded even better, in works by Shostakovich and Rodion Shchedrin, and – yes! – The Rite of Spring.” The columnist described his impressions of the performance of Le Sacre du printemps: “His (Valery Gergiev’s) Rite delved deep into the character of the often strange sonorities, and in this orchestra from St Petersburg (perhaps more than in the London Symphony Orchestra, which he also directs) he has the wherewithal to make the m sound truly distinctive. The orchestra’s woodwinds, in particular, have a slightly untamed quality, which occasionally extends to rawness or harshness but reveals a world of colors.
“Nor does Mr. Gergiev seek virtuosic display through sheer speed. Some of the most powerful effects in this performance came when he pulled the tempo back a notch.
“The brasses provided the needed might, and the timpanist Andrey Khotin had a sensational night, between ‘The Rite’ and Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. But no less impressive were wondrous moments of quiet, from the muted trumpets and in string tremolos.”

Of the second concert at Chapel Hill the critic wrote that “On Tuesday Ekaterina Goncharova sang Mr Shchedrin’s mini-monodrama Cleopatra and the Snake, and sold it beautifully. There is a lot of keening and moaning over shifting orchestral textures as Cleopatra faces death, but Ms Goncharova never made an ugly sound. Her swells and retreats on long-held high notes were remarkable, and her few moments of pure, untortured singing were lovely. As wide-ranging as it is concise, this work should have a big future with those flexible, adventurous sopranos who possess a fine sense of drama.”

Neither did the local press fail to notice the concert; Andy Thomason of the Daily Tar Heel wrote that “(Maestro Gergiev’s) take on The Rite of Spring was satisfying, lending effective emphasis to the rhythmic innovations, percussive mastery and the technically amazing trombone glissandos.
“Dmitry Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6 (...) with its hulking first section and following two movements – both faster and flightier – gave the orchestra a chance to show off its versatility.
But the heart of the show was what immediately followed intermission – the US premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Cleopatra and the Snake. Featuring soprano Yekaterina Goncharova, the work is an interpretation of the final scene of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, in which the Egyptian queen kills herself by snakebite. The performance of Goncharova, clad in a long green dress, was arresting. And although the dialogue was sung in Russian, the work’s the mes – the darker shades of power and youth – were made plain.”

The orchestra and Valery Gergiev are now continuing the ir tour of the Far East. Following a concert in South Korea the orchestra has arrived in Japan where it will perform in ten cities between 9 and 18 November.