The Mariinsky Theatre’s playbill will be full to the brim with memorable events and fairytale-like productions in the last days of this year, as well as during the New Year and Christmas holidays.
The Mariinsky II will host a performance of Rodion Shchedrin’s opera-féerie A Christmas Tale staged by Alexei Stepanyuk (31 December, 13.00 and 18.30; 2 January, 13.30 and 19.30) on New Year’s Eve. The work was Valery Gergiev’s New Year gift to the Mariinsky Theatre in 2015. The libretto is based on the well-known story about twelve months written by the Czech writer Božena Němcová and translated by Nikolai Leskov, as well as on various Russian folk tales. The soirée performance will be conducted by Valery Gergiev. The historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will host a performance of Sergei Banevich’s The Story of Kai and Gerda staged by Alexei Stepanyuk (11.30), which is an opera for younger viewers. The opera will also be shown on 3 January and 7 January (12.00). As tradition goes, the historic stage will host a soirée performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker, choreographed by Vasily Vainonen and designed by Simon Virsaladze (18.30), on New Year’s Eve. On 31 December, the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host the closing gala of the XIII Mariinsky International Piano Festival (15.00), while the brilliant Ekaterina Semenchuk will sing old romances at the 19.00 performance (Semyon Skigin will play the piano). The concert will mark 90 years since the birth of Galina Kareva.
The opera playbill during the holidays will offer a broad selection of various events for theatre-goers. The Mariinsky II will host performances of last year’s premiere, Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor, staged by Andrea De Rosa (29 December; twice on 30 December; 4 January). On 2 January and 6 January, the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host a semi-staged performance of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel, based on the eponymous fairy-tale by the Brothers Grimm (staged by Alexander Maskalin). The historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will be graced by productions of operas based on Russian bylinas and fairy-tales such as Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko staged by Alexei Stepanyuk (3 January, 19.00) and The Tale of Tsar Saltan staged by Alexander Petrov (8 January, 12.00).
Traditionally, the highlight of the ballet playbill is Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The classic production choreographed by Vasily Vainonen and designed by Simon Virsaladze will be shown nine times: either performed by the soloists of the Mariinsky Ballet (28 December and 31 December; 2 January and 4 January at 13.00 and 19.00) or by students of the Vaganova Ballet Academy (23 December, 24 December, and 26 December). The 3 January performance is Mihail Chemiakin’s phantasmagoria version of everyone’s favorite fairy-tale (Mariinsky II, 14.00 and 19.30). On 6 January and 7 January, the Mariinsky II will host performances of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet-féerie The Sleeping Beauty choreographed by Marius Petipa and revised by Konstantin Sergeev. The 6 January production will honour Gabriela Komleva’s 80th jubilee. Komleva, People’s Artist of the USSR, is a renowned ballerina, ballet-mistress and coach of the Mariinsky Theatre. The fairy-tale theme will continue with Sergei Prokofiev’s Cinderella choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky (10 January).
The Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host performances of jazz fantasias on themes from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker by the Chizhik Jazz Quartet (2 January, 20.00); works of 17th and 18th century composers performed by Maria Veretenina (soprano) and Marina Vyaizya (organ), (3 January, 19.00); instrumental concertos of Antonio Vivaldi and Felix Mendelssohn performed by Pavel Milyukov (violin), Maria Fedotova (flute), and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Anton Gakkel (4 January, 13.00); and a New Year concert of the Renaissance Percussion (5 January, 19.00). Moreover, 5 January will see a performance of Francis Poulenc’s symphonic tale L'Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant staged by Alla Chepinoga at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre.
The Prokofiev Hall (Mariinsky II) will host a New Year concert of chamber music (3 January, 19.00), performances of one act operas The Christmas Tree by Vladimir Rebikov (4 January, 15.00) and Adalmina’s Pearl by Hrayr Khanedanyan (8 January, 12.00) staged by Alexander Maskalin. The vocal parts will be performed by soloists of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers, led by Larisa Gergieva.
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