24.11.2018

In the Run-Up to the XIII Mariinsky International Piano Festival

From 22 December to 31 December, the Mariinsky Theatre hosts the XIII Mariinsky International Piano Festival. In the run-up to the music forum, the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will welcome renowned musicians and young beginner artistes for a series of chamber concerts.

On 13 December (19.00), the piano duet of Vadym Kholodenko and Alexei Kurbatov will perform Concerto for Two Pianos and music from Pétrouchka and Le Sacre du printemps (arranged for piano) by Igor Stravinsky, the music poem Prometheus by Alexander Scriabin (arranged for two pianos by Leonid Sabaneev), as well as Alexei Kurbatov’s own work. Both musicians – Vadym Kholodenko and Alexei Kurbatov – graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire; they are well-known both in Russia and abroad. Their music portfolios include concerts at various venues in Russia, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States, as well as collaborations with the world’s leading music ensembles and solo records. Alexei Kurbatov began studying composition back in his childhood days. He wrote his first work at the age of five, and a year later, he composed his own music for a ballet. As of now, he has composed six symphonies, seven instrumental concertos, more than ten symphony poems, the opera Black Monk, as well as scores of chamber and vocal works.

On 15 December (19.00), the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre hosts a recital of Piotr Anderszewski, a pianist whom critics often describe as “an alchemist of sound” and an “eccentric.” He is also reputed to be a master of deep and unconventional interpretations of works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin and 20th century composers. He has included six preludes and fugues from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Book II and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, his calling card since the Leeds Piano Competition in 1990, into his recital in St Petersburg. Today, Piotr Anderszewski performs at the world’s best concert halls with the best ensembles. His discography includes twenty CDs, many of which were named best CDs of the year and nominated for a Grammy Award.

On 19 December (19.00), the Concert Hall hosts a soirée of chamber music featuring soloists of the Mariinsky Orchestra, namely Olga Volkova (violin), Dina Zikeyeva (violin), Yuri Afonkin (viola), Oleg Sendetsky (cello), and Peter Laul, a pianist from St Petersburg. The programme includes piano quintets by Robert Schumann and César Franck.

The matinée concert on 22 December (12.00) is entitled East Meets West. It will feature performances by students of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, one of the oldest music educational institutions in China. Five young Chinese pianists will perform two works each – one representing their national music traditions and the other representing European music traditions.

The XIII Mariinsky International Piano Festival will run at the Mariinsky Theatre venues from 22 December to 31 December. It will be comprised of more than twenty concerts by various pianists with a varying degree of on-stage experience. The festival’s programme includes concerts with the Mariinsky Orchestra and solo recitals. The renowned project A Composer and the Pianist will continue this year and a new project, Rising Stars at the Mariinsky, will be launched at the festival.

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