A joint performance on one stage

The performance of Beethoven’s grandiose Ninth Symphony by soloists of the Mariinsky Opera and the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev saw the participation of the United Chorus of Yugra. This concert on 10 December was the penultimate performance as part of the theatre’s tour of Russia and China. From 4 to 11 December the Mariinsky Theatre performed in Samara, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Khanty-Mansiysk, Naberezhnye Chelny and Beijing.

This performance of Beethoven’s Ninth in Khanty-Mansiysk by the theatre’s orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev and soloists of the opera company Viktoria Yastrebova, Anna Kiknadze, Sergei Semishkur and Mikhail Petrenko together with the United Chorus of Yugra was a special tribute marking the anniversary of the foundation of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region.

The United Chorus of Yugra consisted of members of the Boys’ and Young Men’s Chorus of the Znamensky College of Russian Culture (Artistic Director and Conductor: Eldar Musin), the SvetilenMusic Theatre municipal autonomous institution of the town of Megion (Artistic Director: Irina Stotskaya) and the Chorus of the Surgut College of Music (Director: Valentina Prokofieva). The United Chorus of Yugra was directed by Andrei Petrenko, Principal Chorus Master of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The joint performance on a shared concert platform by the celebrated orchestra and the United Chorus of Yugra confirmed once again the growing importance of choral music in Russia.

It should be remembered that at a meeting of the Russian Presidential Council for Culture and the Arts in September 2012 Valery Gergiev proposed the revival of the All-Russian Choral Society which ceased to exist during the perestroika period. In 2013 the society was re-established, and on 15 February Valery Gergiev was unanimously elected its Chairman. Already by spring, as part of the XII Moscow Easter Festival, in each city that hosted events as part of this geographically extensive music forum children’s choruses were actively involved. Throughout autumn in all of Russia’s regions there were auditions for the Grand United Children’s Chorus of Russia under the direction of Valery Gergiev – it is this ensemble that will be performing at the close ceremony of the Sochi Olympic Games. Prior to its appearance at the Olympics, the United Children’s Chorus will assemble for rehearsals in St Petersburg and give its first concert on 8 January at the Mariinsky II.