13–31 December
Founders of the Festival: Valery Gergiev and Mira Yevtich
• Mariinsky II, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, chamber venues at Mariinsky II
• 27 concert programmes
• More than 40 participants
The playbill of the XIII Mariinsky International Piano Festival focuses, first and foremost, on performances by young musicians. The audiences will also enjoy several workshops by famous Russian teachers, appearances by students of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and soloists of the St Petersburg House of Music, who will perform on the same stage with renowned and acclaimed musicians. The festival’s new project, Rising Stars at the Mariinsky, will see the participation of very young pianists.
In the run-up to the festival, the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host a series of chamber soirée concerts by renowned musicians, who have already gained recognition in the world of music. On 13 December (19.00), the piano duet of Vadym Kholodenko and Alexei Kurbatov will perform music by Igor Stravinsky, Alexander Scriabin, as well as Alexei Kurbatov’s own work. On 15 December (19.00), the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre hosts a recital of Piotr Anderszewski. The programme includes six preludes and fugues from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Book II and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. On 19 December (19.00), the Concert Hall hosts a soirée of piano quintets by Robert Schumann and César Franck 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.
On 22 December, the XIII Mariinsky International Piano Festival opens at two venues of the Mariinsky Theatre. The Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre (16.00) hosts a performance by Sergei Babayan, a regular participant of the Mariinsky Theatre’s music festivals. Accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev, the pianist will continue his series of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos performances. Last year he presented his own version of Piano Concerto No. 9, while this year Babayan will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25.
The Mariinsky II (20.00) hosts a performance by representatives of different generations of musicians, such as Denis Matsuev, People’s Artist of Russia, and Alexandra Dovgan, a prize-winner of the Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition and the 2nd International Grand Piano Competition. The programme includes Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Alexander Zinger (percussion), Andrei Ivanov (double bass), and Sofia Tiurina (saxophone) will also take part in the concert. The Mariinsky Orchestra will perform under the baton of Valery Gergiev.
Alexandra Dovgan’s recital at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre (28 December, 18.00) will be the highlight of the festival’s project Rising Stars at the Mariinsky, which will bring the most promising young musicians to various venues at the Mariinsky Theatre. The Shchedrin Hall will host a series of concerts by various students of the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire's teachers: Alexander Sandler’s class will perform on 24 December (18.00), Peter Laul’s class will perform on 29 December (12.00), and Zora Zucker’s class will perform on 30 December (12.00). On 26 December (14.00), the Stravinsky Foyer hosts a performance by Ryan Zhu, a young Canadian pianist who made his debut at Carnegie Hall at the age of ten; on 27 December (18.00), the Stravinsky Foyer hosts a performance by Mira Marchenko’s students (the Central School of Music of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire).
Ryan Zhu will also perform together with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Mischa Damev (29 December, 20.00, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre). The theme will be continued with concerts East Meets West (22 December, 12.00 and 23 December, 16.00) featuring students of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Piano Marathon featuring soloists of the St Petersburg House of Music (29 December, 16.00). On December 23 (12.00), Shio Okui, a prize-winner of the 1st International Grand Piano Competition and the Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition, will appear on stage as part of the Festival for Children concert. Zarina Shimanskaya and Eduard Kiprsky will also take part in the performance. Conductor: Ivan Stolbov. All four events are scheduled to take place at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre.
The recitals to be performed at the festival include concerts by famed pianists from Russia, the Unites States, and Italy. The Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host recitals of Valery Afanassiev (23 December, 20.00), Alexei Volodin (24 December, 20.00), Andre Tyson (26 December, 18.00), and Federico Colli (30 December, 20.00).
Several programmes at the festival will help to mark 100 years since the death of Claude Debussy. On 26 December (20.30), Sa Chen, a winner of the bronze medal at the Van Cliburn Competition, will perform Debussy’s Images and 12 Études. The 30 December (15.00) concert programme includes Claude Debussy’s Le Martyre de saint Sébastien, as well as excerpts Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan and Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Featured soloist for the performance is Alexei Volodin. The Mariinsky Orchestra will be conducted by Valery Gergiev.
An extensive concert programme consisting of works by composers sharing the same last name will be presented by Boris Berezovsky and Daria Tchaikovskaya, who will perform with the accompaniment of the Mariinsky Orchestra. The programme includes Boris Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto, Alexander Tchaikovsky’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Conductor: Pavel Smelkov (25 December, 20.00).
The project A Composer and the Pianist will continue this year. On 25 December, Elena Akimova, a prize-winner at various All-Russian competitions, will perform works by Franz Schubert (the Shchedrin Hall, 18.00). Works by German and Austrian composers of the 18th and mid-19th centuries will be performed by Rustam Muradov and Dmitry Kalashnikov, graduates of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. The Mariinsky Orchestra will be conducted by Zaurbek Gugkaev (27 December, 20.00).
On December 28 (20.00), famed pianist and teacher Pavel Gililov, Artistic Director of the International Telekom Beethoven Competition in Bonn, will appear with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev. Gililov will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
The closing concert of the XIII Mariinsky International Piano Festival under the baton of Valery Gergiev will take place on 31 December (15.00, Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre).
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