• There will now be festival events at all venues: the Mariinsky Theatre, the Mariinsky-II and the Concert Hall;
• The first ballet performances;
• Stars of opera: Olga Peretyatko, Tatiana Serjan, Elena Stikhina, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Ildar Abdrazakov and Yevgeny Nikitin among others;
• Renowned instrumentalists and young talents: Vadim Repin, Andrei Korobeinikov, Alexandra Dovgan, Abisal Gergiev and Arseny Mun.
The Mariinsky Theatre is continuing to add to the Stars of the White Nights festival playbill. From 28 July to 6 August the festival will host its first ballet performances and there will be appearances by stars of opera and concerts by acclaimed musicians. From 1 August the festival will fully unfold at all of the theatre's venues – the historic theatre will be resuming its work once more. In order to ensure public safety, as has also hitherto been the case at the Mariinsky-II and the Concert Hall, audience numbers are to be reduced by half, observing a "chessboard" seating system, and members of the audience must use individual means of protection, this being a mandatory condition throughout their presence in the building.
On 1 August the historic theatre will open its doors to the public with Verdi's opera Rigoletto. The title role will be sung by Vladislav Sulimsky, the role of Gilda to be performed by Olga Peretyatko, one of the most sought-after sopranos in the world. On several occasions, the singer has performed in this opera at theatres in New York, Madrid, Vienna, Paris and Berlin, although this will be her first appearance in the Mariinsky Theatre's production. The role of the Duke is to be performed by Alexander Mikhailov, while the stellar cast will be conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Yet another oustanding cast will feature in Verdi's Attila. Ildar Abdrazakov will be coming to the festival for this role, one of the finest in his repertoire. He will be partnered onstage by Tatiana Serjan (Odabella), Sergei Skorokhodov (Foresto) and Vladislav Sulimsky (Ezio). Ildar Abdrazakov may also be seen in a concert performance of Boris Godunov by Musorgsky. The performances on both evenings are to be conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Among operas being performed at the festival will be Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer once again, featuring Yevgeny Nikitin and Elena Stikhina, as well as Carmen in which the title role will be sung by Yulia Matochkina. At the Concert Hall there will be a semi-staged performance of Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, while Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro will be mounted at the historic theatre. Verdi's Aida is being transferred to the Mariinsky-II for the first time. This immense production by Alexei Stepanyuk including its huge cast, as with other works before it, will be adapted to the new conditions and regulations – the number of chorus singers and extras will be reduced, and the series of mise-en-scènes will be amended. The lead roles are to be performed by Tatiana Serjan (Aida), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Amneris), Oleg Videman (Radamès), Yevgeny Nikitin (Ramfis), Alexei Markov (Amonasro) and Mikhail Petrenko (the King of Egypt). Christian Knapp will be conducting.
On 30 July ballet performances will be returning to the Mariinsky-II once again with the one-act works Le Jeune Homme et la mort by Roland Petit, In the Night by Jerome Robbins and Le Spectre de la rose and The Dying Swan by Michel Fokine. The first two-act performance featuring not just soloists but also dancers of the corps de ballet will be La Sylphide. This production, known as a manifesto of ballet romanticism, may be seen on 5 August at the historic theatre. The festival programme will also retain the format of ballet gala concerts – a wonderful opportunity in the course of one evening to discover the theatre's expansive repertoire as performed by stars of the company and to see pieces of modern choreography.
The festival's concert programme promises to be equally intense. Under the baton of Valery Gergiev, soloists of the Mariinsky Opera and the Mariinsky Orchestra will be performing Act II from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden, the young musicians Abisal Gergiev and Arseny Mun will be presenting evenings of piano music and prize-winning singers from the Tchaikovsky International Competition from various years will be singing popular opera arias accompanied by the orchestra. Guest musicians scheduled to appear at the festival include the outstanding violinist Vadim Repin, recipient of France's most prestigious music prize the Victoire d'honneur and a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He will be accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. Once again, the Concert Hall will play host to a regular visitor to Mariinsky Theatre music festivals – the talented young pianist Alexandra Dovgan. This time, audiences will have the opportunity to hear her interpretation of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 23. The concert marathon will conclude with a chamber music evening with the Mariinsky String Quartet and Andrei Korobeinikov (piano).
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