From 6 to 13 March the Mariinsky Theatre will be running the I International Choral Festival Maslenitsa in Song. Over the eight days of the festival the Mariinsky Theatre will host performances by over twenty choral ensembles.
The festival programme is being framed by two major vocal-symphony works – Carl Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana performed by the Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Andrei Petrenko (6 March, Mariinsky-II), and The Armed Man (Mass of Peace) by Karl Jenkins performed by six choral ensembles – the Chorus of the St Petersburg State University, the Academic Grand Chorus of the Russian State Humanitarian University, the Beeline Company Chorus, the State Chamber Chorus of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Male Choir of the Voronezh Concert Hall A Symbol of Faith and the Children’s Chorus of St Petersburg TV and Radio. The Mariinsky Orchestra will be conducted by Edward Krotman (13 March, Concert Hall).
One key event of the festival will come with the world premiere of the cantata Mother Russia, composed by contemporary Yekaterinburg composer Olga Viktorova and set to folk texts. The work is being performed by the Mariinsky Chorus, the Children’s Chorus of St Petersburg TV and Radio and the Mariinsky Orchestra. The conductor is Andrei Petrenko (12 March, 16:00, Concert Hall).
Andrei Petrenko will also conduct the Mariinsky Chorus in a performance of one of the greatest works of Russian choral music – Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil (9 March, Concert Hall). In the Prokofiev Hall on the same day there will be an a cappella marathon From Banchieri to Russian Maslenitsa, which will feature prize-winners from all-Russian and international competitions, chamber, combined and male and female choruses from music schools and middle and higher academic institutions.
The traditions of choral performance in Belarus, Armenia, Estonia and Russia are represented at the festival by guest ensembles which in their programmes are turning to national folklore and the music of contemporary composers that has folkloric roots. The chamber chorus Salutaris (Belarus), renowned both at home and internationally, will be performing at the Mariinsky Theatre for the first time (7 March, Concert Hall). In 2012 this chorus made a successful debut in Russia when it appeared several times at the XI Moscow Easter Festival. The female chorus Art Vocal Ensemble (Armenia) will be performing arrangements of folk songs and traditional choral works by Armenian composers. The highlight of the evening will be the sound of the Armenian duduk with soloist Emmanuel Ogannisian (8 March, Concert Hall). The Mlada chorus from Perm, its repertoire including over three hundred vocal works in different styles, will be bringing to St Petersburg the programme From Folk to Jazz, where along with traditional choral works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Georgy Sviridov there will be performances of Mexican folk songs and spirituals (10 March, Concert Hall). The Young Women’s Chorus of Estonian TV will be performing at the Mariinsky Theatre for the first time. The ensemble of signers aged between fifteen and twenty-five will perform works in various genres, from Gregorian chants to contemporary compositions and folkloric arrangements (12 March, Concert Hall).
The open programme of the festival, which runs in parallel at this time at the Prokofiev Hall (Mariinsky-II), will feature performances by Children’s Arts Schools and Children’s Music Schools and Choral Studios. On 7, 8, 12 and 13 March at the Prokofiev Hall there will be performances by the choral ensembles of ten educational institutions – the Mravinsky Children’s School of Arts, Children’s School of Music No 34 (Krasnoselskaya), Children’s School of Music No 38, the Sviridov Children’s School of Arts, the Bortnyansky Children’s School of Arts, the Glinka Children’s School of Arts and the choral studios Iskra, Transfiguration, Cantabile and Galactica. Entry to all concerts of the open programme is free (the number of seats available is limited to the maximum seating capacity of the venue).
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