27.07.2018

Marking 100 years since the birth of Leonard Bernstein with Valery Gergiev’s concerts at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan

From 29 July to 1 August, Valery Gergiev will perform in major cities of Japan at the closing concerts of the Pacific Music Festival (PMF), which runs from 7 July to 1 August. This year’s festival is dedicated to its founder Leonard Bernstein, who is one of the most renowned conductors of the 20th century, as well as a pianist, teacher and composer. The year 2018 marks 100 years since the birth of Leonard Bernstein, which is widely celebrated all over the globe.

On 29 July, the Kitara Sapporo Concert Hall will host a grand gala concert. The matinée part of the programme (15:00) will see a performance of Eugène Gigout’s Grand Choeur Dialogué (featured soloist: Martin Gregorius), fragments of Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide (conductor: Daniel Matsukawa), Claude Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane for harp and strings (featured soloist: Mariko Anraku), and the official song of the Pacific Music Festival – Jupiter – set to the movement of Gustav Holst's The Planets suite (which is to be conducted by Valery Gergiev). Apart from the PMF Orchestra, the concert’s performers also include the Sapporo Otani University Choir, singer Akie Amou (soprano), as well as renowned musicians, who are a part of the PMF AMERICA programme. The soirée part (17:00) will see a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 and Leonard Bernstein’s Halil for flute, string orchestra and percussion under the baton of Valery Gergiev. Denis Bouriakov (flute), who is a soloist with the MET Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will take part in the performance. On 31 July, the PMF Orchestra will perform at the Phoenix Hall of the International Conference Center Hiroshima under the baton of Valery Gergiev. The true highlight of the music forum is the concert at the famed Suntory Hall in Tokyo on 1 August. The programme of the closing concerts of the Pacific Music Festival also includes the works of Gustav Mahler and Leonard Bernstein.

The Mariinsky Theatre conductor Christian Knapp will make his debut with the PMF Orchestra at the festival. On 28 July, he will conduct a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 at the closing part of the traditional open-to-all Picnic Concert held at the Sapporo Art Park Outdoor Stage. Prior to the concert, the musicians will hold an open rehearsal at the Kitara Sapporo Concert Hall. Valery Gergiev has been the Artistic Director of the Pacific Music Festival since 2015, while the festival itself was created by Leonard Bernstein in 1990.

Right after the Pacific Music Festival, Valery Gergiev will head to China, where he will perform on tour with the Mariinsky Theatre on 2 August and 3 August. Sergei Prokofiev’s monumental opera War and Peace will be performed at the Guangzhou Opera House. Soon after, on 4 August and 5 August, Valery Gergiev, the Mariinsky Opera, and the Mariinsky Orchestra will perform in Vladivostok at the III International Mariinsky Far East Festival.

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