On 26 and 27 February Mariinsky-2 will present the first ballet premiere of the season – Round Dances to music by Rodion Shchedrin. Choreography, sets and costumes are created by Honoured Artist of Russia Vyacheslav Samodurov, whose Dance Scenes became one of the most talked-about ballet events of the last season. The upcoming premiere continues the Maya and Rodion Festival and is dedicated to the composer’s memory. The evening will also feature the legendary Carmen Suite by Bizet–Shchedrin. Valery Gergiev conducts the premiere performances.
From 20 November to 16 December last year the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres hosted the Grand Tribute Festival Maya and Rodion, dedicated to the memory of the outstanding composer and the legendary ballerina, whose contribution to Russian and world culture is immeasurable. For the Mariinsky the project held special significance: Rodion Shchedrin and Maya Plisetskaya shared decades of close friendship and fruitful artistic collaboration with the theatre.
Today the Mariinsky’s repertoire includes a unique collection of Shchedrin’s works: all of his operas have been staged, almost all of his ballets are represented, and his choral, symphonic and chamber compositions – many of which were premiered here – are regularly performed. The ballet based on Round Dances – Shchedrin’s Fourth Concerto for Orchestra – will receive its first staging at the theatre. In addition to the classical instruments of the symphony orchestra, the score calls for recorder, Russian wooden spoons, sleigh bells of a Russian troika, and prominent solos for piccolo clarinet and piccolo trumpet.
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