From 11 to 19 October the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will be hosting the the International Organ Festival for the seventh time. It is to be dedicated to the memory of Daniel Kern, who crafted the organ at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. Participants this year include musicians from Russia, France, Austria and Italy, many of whom will be making their debuts at the Mariinsky Theatre. At the festival the organ will be performed solo and in duets, together with piano and with orchestra, while the concert programmes will feature transcriptions, improvisations and classics from the organ repertoire.
1 October 2019 marks ten years since the installation of the Mariinsky Concert Hall’s organ. The instrument was crafted by the French company Alfred Kern et Fils (Strasbourg), which was founded in 1953 – the first French organ to be installed in Russia in over a century, unlike organs constructed by German craftsmen for its qualities of construction, and the quality of the sound, which facilitates the performance of not just German music but French organ music as well. It was installed at the Concert Hall in the summer of 2009, and a few months later on 1 October it was inaugurated.
On 11 October (19.00) the VII International Organ Festival opens with a performance by the famed French organist, teacher and composer Thierry Escaich accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Christian Knapp. The programme includes works by Louis Vierne, Maurice Duruflé, Aaron Copland and Thierry Escaich’s own compositions.
New names at the festival include Johannes Zeinler – recipient of the Grand Prix at the Grand Prix de Chartres (France, 2018), one of the oldest and most prestigious organ competitions that opens the path to the world’s stages for musicians. On 16 October (19.00) the organist will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach, César Franck, Robert Schumann, August Gottfried Ritter and Franz Schmidt. Prize-winners and finalists of the Grand Prix de Chartres, where participants are engaged every two years as performers and improvisers, are now regular guests of the Mariinsky Theatre. Since 2016, on the initiative of Valery Gergiev the most promising laureates are awarded a special prize – the chance to perform at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre.
Also making his debut at the festival will be the Italian Davide Mariano – artist in residence of the St Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, acclaimed for his performances of a vast repertoire ranging from the medieval to the current day. At the festival his programme will similarly feature works by various composers – from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Prokofiev 12 October, 19.00).
For the first time the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will play host to French organist Jean-Baptiste Monnot – a pupil of the acclaimed organ maestri Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard and Jean Guillot, titular organist of the Saint-Ouen Abbey Church (Rouen). He will be dedicating the programme of his concert to French organist-composers, including a performance of a piece by one of his mentors – Jean Guillot.
Regular festival guests include the St Petersburg organists Daniil Protsyuk, who together with the pianist Zarina Shimanskaya will present music by French composers for organ and piano (14 October, 19:00) and Marina Vyaizya, who during the festival will present a programme for children (19 October, 12.00).
The festival will conclude with a performance by an extraordinary organ duo from France – Olivier Vernet, titular organist of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco and Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Cédric Meckler, Doctor of Medicine (19 October, 19.00). For their visit to Russsia the musicians have chosen a programme of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Jean-Philippe Rameau, many of which are to be performed in original transcriptions by Oliviet vernet and Cédric Meckler.
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