From 20 November to 16 December the two Russian capitals will host a large-scale musical tribute festival, Maya and Rodion, dedicated to the memory of the outstanding composer and the legendary ballerina. Events celebrating Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin will take place on the stages of the leading venues in Moscow and St Petersburg. The festival is presented with media support from Channel One Russia and the VK Video platform. Key events will be broadcast live, allowing audiences across all regions of Russia to join the celebration. In addition, screenings will be held in cinemas throughout the country with support from KINO.ART.PRO. The festival’s Music Director is Valery Gergiev.
“Today I have the opportunity to speak about two remarkable, truly great artists – Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya and Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin. On 20 November the entire Russian musical and theatrical community will mark the centenary of Maya Plisetskaya, one of the greatest ballerinas in history. We were close friends, and I am grateful to fate, and above all to Maya and Rodion, for the many happy moments – hundreds, even thousands of hours of communication: creative, human, deeply joyful. Many of Rodion Shchedrin’s works are part of the repertoire of the Mariinsky Theatre and now the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia as well. His muse, Maya Mikhailovna, always held his unwavering admiration. Theirs was a happy love that gave the world of opera and ballet, and the entire realm of classical music, countless new riches,” notes Valery Gergiev.
The festival will open at the Bolshoi Theatre on 20 November – the day of Plisetskaya’s birth – with a gala concert at the Historic Stage, featuring celebrated dancers. The programme spans a wide range of genres: from ballet excerpts and choreographic miniatures to the iconic Carmen Suite by Bizet–Shchedrin and a black-and-white documentary chronicle accompanied by orchestra. The event will be streamed live on VK Video, through the official Bolshoi Theatre community on VKontakte.
That same evening the Mariinsky Theatre’s New Stage will present the gala Maya Plisetskaya: A Portrait of an Era. The programme includes seminal works and excerpts from productions in which Plisetskaya shone throughout her career. Stars of the ballet company and the Mariinsky Orchestra will take part. It will be conducted by Arseny Shuplyakov. At the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre on 20 November the audience will hear Shchedrin’s Not Love Alone — an ironic and poignant opera woven from lively Russian chastushki.
On 22 and 23 November (12:00 and 18:00) the Bolshoi Theatre will present a major revival of the opera Dead Souls in the legendary 1977 production by director Boris Pokrovsky and designer Valery Levental. A significant event will be the live broadcast of the 23 November performance (18:00) on VK Video via the Bolshoi Theatre’s official VKontakte community. Ahead of the performances, on 17 November at 18:00, the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theatre will host a creative meeting with participants of the opera’s world premiere. It will be moderated by Marina Gaikovich, PhD in Art History, musicologist and critic. The meeting will also be streamed live.
On 22 November at 13:00 and 18:00 the Mariinsky-2 stage will present Shchedrin’s milestone opera The Lefthander, written specifically for the inauguration of the theatre’s New Stage.
On 12 December the same venue will host Shchedrin’s Lolita, an opera based on Vladimir Nabokov’s iconic novel. And on 16 December, the composer’s birthday, the main stages of the Mariinsky Theatre will resound with his masterpieces:
– at the Historic Stage – Carmen Suite (12:00) and The Little Humpbacked Horse (19:30);
– at the New Stage – Dead Souls (19:00) in Vasily Barkhatov’s production with sets by Zinovy Margolin;
– at the Concert Hall – Not Love Alone (19:00) in a production by Alexander Kuzin with designs by Alexander Orlov.
Further events of the Maya and Rodion tribute festival will be announced.
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