Interviews

• 23 May – 29 July 2018
• Mariinsky Theatre, Mariinsky II, Concert Hall
• Artistic Director: Valery Gergiev

• Over 200 performances and concerts;
• Premieres of Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff staged by Andrea De Rosa and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride staged by Alexander Kuzin;
• St Petersburg premiere of Rodion Shchedrin’s Balalaechka-Minorochka;
• Marking 200 years since the birth of Marius Petipa;
• A marathon of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies in the run-up to the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition;
• Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers;
• Parade of opera and ballet stars: Aida Garifullina, Maria Guleghina, Anna Netrebko, Tatiana Serjan, Elena Stikhina, Mlada Khudoley, Irina Churilova, Albina Shagimuratova, Olga Borodina, Yulia Matochkina, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Yekaterina Sergeyeva, Migran Agadzhanyan, Hovhannes Ayvazyan, Mikhail Vekua, Vladimir Galouzine, Najmiddin Mavlyanov, Sergei Skorokhodov, Sergei Semishkur, Gevorg Akopyan, Roman Burdenko, Plácido Domingo, Alexei Markov, Vladislav Sulimsky, Matthias Goerne, Yevgeny Nikitin, Mikhail Petrenko, Stanislav Trofimov, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Daria Pavlenko, Oksana Skorik, Alina Somova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Timur Askerov, Yevgeny Ivanchenko, Kimin Kim, Igor Kolb, Danila Korsuntsev, Xander Parish, Vladimir Shklyarov, David Hallberg and many others;
• Renowned instrumentalists: pianist Sergei Babayan, Guillaume Bellom, Christian Blackshaw, Rudolf Buchbinder, Alexei Volodin, Lucas Debargue, Peter Laul, George Li, Dmitry Masleev, Denis Matsuev, Sergei Redkin, Alexander Slobodianik-jr, Daniil Trifonov, Nobuyuki Tsujii; violinists Kristóf Baráti, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Lozakovitj, Fumiaki Miura, Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici; violist Wilfried Strehle; cellists Narek Hakhnazaryan, István Várdai, Alexander Ramm, Jonathan Roseman; organist Thomas Ospitale and many others;
• First tour of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre Opera (Igor Stravinsky’s Mavra staged by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev) and Ballet.

On 23 May, the XXVI Stars of the White Nights festival opens with the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff staged by Italian director Andrea De Rosa, who is also the mastermind behind another production of Verdi’s, Simon Boccanegra, which is a favorite with the St Petersburg audiences. Featured soloists: Roman Burdenko, Vladislav Sulimsky, Tatiana Serjan, and the wonderful group of the Mariinsky Theatre’s young opera singers. The performance will be conducted by Valery Gergiev. The performances are scheduled for 27 May (twice), 12 June and 15 July.
The premiere is part of the major cultural project Russian Seasons, with Italy as its chair for 2018.

On 25 May, the Concert Hall hosts the performance of the famed Chorus Teatro Regio Torino, one of the leading opera theatres in the world. Together with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Alessandro Cadario, the ensemble will perform excerpts from Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino, Otello, Nabucco, and Quattro pezzi sacri. Italian music will also be featured at the festival in such operas as Tosca (starring Elena Stikhina, Hovhannes Ayvazyan, and Gevorg Akopyan; 26 May), Rigoletto (starring Olga Pudova, Sergei Skorokhodov, and Vladislav Sulimsky; 28 May), Otello (starring Vladimir Galouzine, Irina Churilova, and Vladislav Sulimsky; 31 May), Lucia di Lammermoor (starring Albina Shagimuratova in the title role; concert performance; 4 June), La bohème under the baton of Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan (10 June), Simon Boccanegra (starring Ferruccio Furlanetto, Roman Burdenko, Migran Agadzhanyan, and Irina Churilova in lead roles; 14 June), Macbeth (starring Anna Netrebko, Vladislav Sulimsky, Yusif Eyvazov, and Mikhail Petrenko; 15 June), Un ballo in maschera (starring Maria Guleghina, Olga Pudova, Najmiddin Mavlyanov, and Alexei Markov; 16 June), Il trovatore (starring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Irina Churilova, and Hovhannes Ayvazyan; 23 June), Turandot (starring Mlada Khudoley in the title role; 28 June). The playbill for July will be graced with the likes of Plácido Domingo in La traviata under the baton of Valery Gergiev (6 July); Elena Stikhina and Hovhannes Ayvazyan in La forza del destino (3 July); Tatiana Serjan, Yulia Matochkina, Migran Agadzhanyan, and Alexei Markov in Adriana Lecouvreur (4 July); Irina Churilova, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Migran Agadzhanyan, and Mikhail Petrenko in Don Carlo (8 July); Tatiana Serjan, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Roman Burdenko in Attila (9 July) and a concert performance of Norma with Tatiana Serjan and Sergei Skorokhodov under the baton of Oleg Caetani (12 July).

Claude Debussy’s works will also be featured extensively to mark 100 years since the death of the great French composer. On 24 May, the Concert Hall hosts the performance of Claude Debussy’s Violin Sonata, Danse sacrée et danse profane, and fragments symphoniques from Le Martyre de saint Sébastien, César Franck’s Violin Sonata, and Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane featuring Renaud Capuçon (violin), Guillaume Bellom (piano), and Sofia Kiprskaya (harp) and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev. Claude Debussy’s three symphonic sketches La mer and fragments from Le Martyre de saint Sébastien are included into the programme of the 6 June concert of the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev. In the second part of the concert pianist Lucas Debargue will perform Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Claude Debussy’s works will also be performed under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda, one of the most notable conductors of our time, on 29 June.

In the run-up to the festival, on 22 May Yuri Bashmet and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will perform the music of Alfred Schnittke and Giya Kancheli at the Concert Hall. The St Petersburg public will be spoiled by one more musical gift: the performance of the famed Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of the renowned conductor Christian Thielemann. The programme includes the works of Carl Maria von Weber and Johannes Brahms. Denis Matsuev is the featured soloist for the Franz Liszt’s virtuoso Piano Concerto No. 2 (25 May). As part of the cross-cultural Russian-Japanese year, on 24 May the Concert hall hosts the performance of the famous AUN J Classic Orchestra, which uses the traditional Japanese instruments. The first week of the festival includes concerts of the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble under the baton of Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici (27 May) and a night of organ music performed by Thomas Ospitale (31 May).

The ballet playbill includes various events to mark 200 years since the birth of Marius Petipa. At the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, the festival opens with a series of performances of Alexander Glazunov’s Raymonda with choreography by Marius Petipa (revised by Konstantin Sergeyev; 24 May, 26 May and 27, May). The lead roles will be performed by Viktoria Tereshkina and Xander Parish, Alina Somova and Vladimir Shklyarov, Anastasia Kolegova and Andrei Yermakov. The 26 May and 28 May performances will be conducted by Valery Gergiev. A colourful gala concert will be organised to mark 200 years since the birth of the great ballet master. The programme includes choreographic routines and excerpts from Swan Lake, Raymonda, Don Quixote, Paquita, and The Sleeping Beauty performed by Ekaterina Kondaurova, Oksana Skorik, Alina Somova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Olesya Novikova, Renata Shakirova, Timur Askerov, Xander Parish, Vladimir Shklyarov, Andrei Yermakov, and Philipp Stepin (25 May). The June playbill of the historic stage will be graced by the Mariinsky Theatre ballet master and repetiteur Sergei Vikharev’s reconstruction of Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty (1 June, 2 June, and 3 June) with Alina Somova, Timur Askerov and Nadezhda Batoyeva, Philipp Stepin in the lead roles; La Bayadère (5 June, 6 June, and 7 June) with Ekaterina Kondaurova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Anastasia Matvienko, Kimin Kim, Vladimir Shklyarov, Andrei Yermakov; Don Quixote with Elena Yevseyeva, Vladimir Shklyarov and Viktoria Tereshkina and Kimin Kim (20 June and 21 June); Paquita with Viktoria Tereshkina, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Oksana Skorik, Timur Askerov, Xander Parish, and Andrei Yermakov (23 June, 24 June, 25 June). As tradition goes, the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre hosts the graduation performance of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet (12 June, 14 June, and 16 June). This year’s programme is dedicated to Marius Petipa.
Vladimir Shklyarov will celebrate 15 years on stage at the Mariinsky Theatre. He is a principal dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet and a guest principal with the Bayerische Staatsballett. He will perform the title role in Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky (13 June) to mark the important date.

In June, the Concert Hall will see several gala concerts of Richard Wagner’s works performed under the baton of Valery Gergiev. The concerts include excerpts from Tristan und Isolde with Heidi Melton, Mikhail Vekua, and Mikhail Petrenko (7 June) and excerpts from Siegfried and Götterdämmerung of the Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle (19 June). The German theme will be further explored by the famous German bass-baritone Matthias Goerne and Daniil Trifonov, 2018 Grammy award winner, who will appear together in chamber concert (11 June). Trifonov is also scheduled to perform with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev at the festival (12 June). On 23 June, Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem will be performed by the Spanish Orfeón Pamplonés Chorus, the soloists of the Mariinsky Opera and the Mariinsky Orchestra, and the fellows of the Atkins Program. Conductor: Justus Frantz.

Russian music will be extensively featured at the festival. 2 June will see a performance of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre production, Igor Stravinsky’s Mavra staged by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev. (The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre ballet company will bring their productions to St Petersburg from 31 July to 12 August. After the festival, the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will host the performances of Le Corsaire, Giselle, and The Sleeping Beauty to mark 200 years since the birth of Marius Petipa). The Concert Hall will premiere Rodion Shchedrin’s Balalaechka-Minorochka in St Petersburg on 19 June. Other pieces to be performed include Tanya–Katya and the double concerto for cello and piano Romantic Offering. Featured soloists: Pelageya Kurennaya (soprano), Yekaterina Sergeyeva (mezzo-soprano), Sergei Redkin (piano), Alexander Ramm (cello). Conductor: Valery Gergiev. Rodion Shchedrin’s other works are also featured on the festival’s playbill, including the operas The Left-Hander (staged by Alexei Stepanyuk, 2 June), Not Love Alone (staged by Alexander Kuzin, 9 June), and Boyarina Morozova (concert performance, 10 June); the ballets Anna Karenina (8 June, 9 June, 27 July, 28 July) and The Little Humpbacked Horse (25 July, 29 July) choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky. The highlight of the Russian programme is the premiere of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride on 21 June under the baton of Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky II. The production is staged by Alexander Kuzin (Director), Alexander Orlov (Set Designer), and Irina Cherednikova (Costume Designer). The cast includes Yulia Matochkina, Yekaterina Sergeyeva, Irina Shishkova, Violetta Lukyanenko, Anna Denisova, Pelageya Kurennaya, Yekaterina Goncharova, Sergei Semishkur, Sergei Skorokhodov, Yevgeny Akhmedov, Alexander Mikhailov, Kirill Zharovin, Alexei Markov, Mikhail Kit, Mikhail Kolelishvili, Mikhail Petrenko, Andrei Serov, Oleg Sychev, Stanislav Trofimov, and Vladimir Feliauer. The premiere performances will also take place on 24 June, 20 July, and 21 July. The playbill also includes The Gambler with Vladimir Galouzine (3 June), Mazepa with Vladislav Sulimsky (4 June), The Snow Maiden with Aida Garifullina (25 June), Khovanshchina with Olga Borodina and Mikhail Petrenko (26 June), The Queen of Spades with Tatiana Pavlovskaya and Mikhail Vekua (27 June), The Maid of Pskov with Yekaterina Goncharova and Sergei Semishkur (11 July), Prince Igor starring Roman Burdenko, Yekaterina Sergeyeva, and Tatiana Pavlovskaya (14 July).

The highlights of the June concerts include the performance of the Russo-German Music Academy Orchestra, which includes the best young Russian and German musicians, prize-winners of major international competitions, the soloists of the Mariinsky Orchestra and interns of German symphony orchestras. The programme includes the music of Franz Schubert, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Bernd Alois Zimmermann. Conductor: Valery Gergiev. Featured soloist: Denis Matsuev (3 June). After performing in St Petersburg, the ensemble will go on tour to Berlin. That same day, Lucas Debargue & Friends concert will take place. An ensemble of young musicians (Lucas Debargue, Eva Zavaro, Adrien Boisseau, Jérôme Pernoo) will perform Gabriel Fauré's Piano Quartets and Lucas Debargue’s own music. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, which is famous for its masterful performances and inspiring programmes, will return to the festival (17 June, 18 June). The 17 June concert featuring Arnaud Sussmann (violin) and Paul Neubauer (viola) will be conducted by Valery Gergiev. The playbill also features the duet of Peter Laul (piano) and Olga Volkova (violin) (17 June), solo performances of George Li (16 June), Kristóf Baráti (20 June), Nobuyuki Tsujii (24 June), Narek Hakhnazaryan (25 June), and Olga Borodina’s recital (30 June). The musicians to perform with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev include pianist George Li (for a monographic performance fully dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn; 18 June), Nobuyuki Tsujii (solo for Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5; 20 June) and Alexander Slobodianik-jr (Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; 26 June); violinists Fumiaki Miura (solo for Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto; 22 June) and Daniel Lozakovitj (Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto; 24 June). Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan will perform Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s works during a monographic concert dedicated to the composer (26 June). On 27 June, the renowned Viennese pianist Rudolf Buchbinder will appear in concerto wearing two hats at one, that of a soloist and that of a conductor. The programme features Ludwig van Beethoven’s piano concertos. In the run-up to the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competion set to take place in 2018 in Moscow and St Petersburg, the festival’s programme has been enriched by a marathon of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s symphonies performances under the baton of Valery Gergiev. The Symphony No. 5 performance will be conducted by Gianandrea Noseda (29 June). The festival includes one more cycle, that of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Concertos No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 will be performed by the musicians of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici and Wilfried Strehle (15 June). The second part of the concertos (No. 2, No. 4, and No. 6) will be performed on 12 July.

The operetta Candide concert performance will take place on 17 June to mark 100 years since the birth of Leonard Bernstein. The performance will be conducted by Leon Botstein, Music Director of the American Symphony Orchestra. One of the pieces of the Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers is also dedicated to Leonard Bernstein (11 July).

The first half of June will see the performance of world opera stars and famed instrumentalists. Plácido Domingo is scheduled to give two performances at the festival. On 6 July he will appear as Giorgio Germont in La traviata conducted by Valery Gergiev, while on 7 July he will put on the conductor’s hat himself. Mlada Khudoley, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Mikhail Vekua, and Mikhail Petrenko will perform the excerpts from Richard Wagner’s operas. Famous opera singer Julia Lezhneva will present the monographic programme Mozart Gala at the Concert Hall on 2 July. Conductor: Mikhail Antonenko. Recitals will also be performed by Alexei Volodin (1 July), Christian Blackshaw (8 July), Sergei Babayan (11 July), Dmitry Masleev (14 July). Sergei Babayan will also perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concertos No. 4 and No. 27 together with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev (9 July). Chamber music performances include the recital of cellist István Várdai (6 July). In the second half of July, the Mariinsky Orchestra will be conducted by Mischa Damev (17 July) and Gustavo Gimeno (22 July). Cellist Jonathan Roseman, prize-winner of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, will appear in recital (18 July).

The July performances of Swan Lake (6 July, 7 July, and 8 July) starring Ekaterina Kondaurova and Timur Askerov, Anastasia Matvienko and Yevgeny Ivanchenko, Nadezhda Batoeva and Kimin Kim in the lead roles; Giselle with Yekaterina Osmolkina, Vladimir Shklyarov, and Alina Somova, as well as Le Corsaire, the premiere of the David Hallberg’s American Ballet Theater (10 July and 12 July) starring Viktoria Tereshkina, Kimin Kim, Andrei Yermakov, Elena Yevseyeva, Maria Shirinkina, Xander Parish, and Victor Caixeta (13 July and 14 July) will mark 200 year since the birth of Marius Petipa.

On 11 July, the Mariinsky II will host the Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers for the sixth time. It is a project which allow beginners to work with the Mariinsky Ballet artists and to show their works to a wider public. One-act ballets of the 20th century masters – George Balanchine’s Apollo and Symphony in C and Jerome Robbins’ In the Night – will be performed by the leading Mariinsky Ballet soloists (20 July and 21 July). David Hallberg will appear as Apollo on 20 July.

The XXVI Stars of the White Nights festival will conclude on 29 July. The Mariinsky II will host the performance of The Little Humpbacked Horse, the Concert Hall will host the performance of Die Zauberflöte, the historic stage will host the performance of Aida starring Irina Churilova, Yulia Matochkina, Oleg Videman, and Roman Burdenko.

On May 25 at 7:00 pm the Mariinsky Concert Hall will host a performance of the choir of one of Italy’s oldest opera houses, Teatro Regio Torino. The programme that the ensemble brings to St. Petersburg, is dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi. The joint performance with the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra will feature fragments from La forza del destino, Othello, Nabucco, as well as Quattro pezzi sacri (Four sacred pieces). The performance will be conducted by Alessandro Cadario, chief guest conductor of the Milan Musical Evenings festival orchestra. The choirmaster is Andrea Secchi, who became the head of Chorus Teatro Regio Torino in February 2018.

Founded in the late 19^th century and recreated in 1945, Chorus Teatro Regio Torino is one of the most famous opera choirs of Europe. Apart from participating in the productions of the Teatro Regio, the team tours actively in Europe, as well as in China, Japan, the United States and produces numerous recordings. The recent ones include Quattro pezzi sacri by Giuseppe Verdi and two CDs containing works by modern Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi, performed with the Teatro Regio Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda.

On 15 May and 18 May, Valery Gergiev will once again perform with the Munich Philharmonic. The first concert will take place at home stage of the orchestra, the Gasteig Philharmonie (Munich), while the second concert will be hosted by the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, which celebrates its 20-year anniversary this year.

The world’s leading opera singers and the Munich Philharmonic Choir under the baton of Andreas Herrmann will perform Richard Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer (concert performance). Lead roles will be performed by Sir Bryn Terfel (The Dutchman), Elena Stikhina (Senta), Eric Cutler (Erik), Günther Groissböck (Daland), Okka von der Damerau (Mary), Benjamin Barnes (Steersman).

The next joint performances of Valery Gergiev and the Munich Philharmonic are scheduled for July. The ensemble will conclude the 2017/2018 season with concerts at the Gasteig Philharmonie.

From 6 May to 8 May, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will perform in Switzerland as part of the grand XVII Moscow Easter Festival tour. The programme for the concerts in Lucerne, Geneva, and Zurich includes all of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s symphonies.

On 5 May, in the run-up to the Swiss tour, Valery Gergiev will give two concerts in Moscow. The Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (6 pm) will see the performance of the Mariinsky Orchestra with the renowned Dutch opera singer Eva-Maria Westbroek as part of the XVII Moscow Easter Festival.

For the 8 pm performance, Valery Gergiev will conduct the Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra at the closing concert of the 2^nd International Grand Piano Competition at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. The programme includes Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the featured soloist Denis Matsuev, Artistic Director of the Competition. The prize-winners of the 2^nd Grand Piano Competition will perform in concerto with the Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Sladkovsky.

On 6 May, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will set out on the marathon of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s symphonies with a concert in Lucerne. The Grand Hall of the Culture and Congress Centre will see the performances of Symphony No. 1 (Winter Daydreams) and Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique Symphony). The Geneva Victoria Hall will see the performances of Symphony No. 2 (Little Russian) and Symphony No. 5 (7 May), while the Zurich Tonhalle will host the performances of Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 4 (8 May).

Then the Mariinsky Theatre musicians will return to Moscow for the final concerts of the XVII Moscow Easter Festival. The Victory Day open-to-all performance at Poklonnaya Gora will feature a wide symphony programme, which will mark the pinnacle of the Festival (1 pm). Denis Matsuev is the featured soloist for the performance.

The closing ceremony of the XVII Moscow Easter Festival will be held the very same day at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory (7 pm). Behzod Abduraimov and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Just a quick reminder: the XVII Moscow Easter Festival runs from 8 April to 9 May 2018 with the support of the Moscow Government, the Russian Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Defense and the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The record-setting music marathon has travelled to almost 30 cities and towns of Russia this year.

On 5 May (19.30), the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will host the performance of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delila in honour of Olga Borodina, People’s Artist of Russia. The concert performance will mark 30 years of Borodina’s artistic career.

Olga Borodina made her debut at the Mariinsky (then Kirov) Theatre in Charles Gounod’s Faust as Siébel on 20 March 1988. The singer’s first “calling card” role, which gained her recognition, was Marfa in Modest Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina. Olga Borodina went on to sing the part at the Staatsoper Hamburg, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Salzburg Festival.

Another lucky role for Borodina, also popular with the theatres, was that of Delila. The singer recalls, “Saint-Saëns wrote the part of Delila for me, I know that for certain. It is perfect both for my voice and for my character. ” Borodina will reprise the role at the gala concert, which will mark 30 years of her artistic career. The renowned singer José Cura will be her on-stage partner for the performance. José Cura and Olga Borodina have long collaborated as artists. They made their joint debut in the production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen staged at the San Francisco Opera in 1996. Their voices can be heard on the 1998 recording of Samson and Delila made by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Colin Davis. Cura and Borodina also sang Samson and Delila together at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2002. The performance was conducted by Emmanuel Villaume. He will also conduct the concert performance at the Mariinsky Theatre. The production also stars Vladimir Moroz (as the High Priest of Dagon), Mikhail Petrenko (as Abimélech), and Yuri Vorobiev (as Old Hebrew).

On-line broadcast is available on mariinsky.tv

On 23 May, the Mariinsky II will host the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Falstaff. The production is prepared by an Italian team with stage director Andrea De Rosa at the helm. De Rosa has already wowed the St Petersburg audience with another production of Giuseppe Verdi’s – the opera Simon Boccanegra – which premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre to good buzz in the 2016/2017 theatrical season. The director, who has previously staged Shakespeare's Falstaff at drama theatres, started his work at the Mariinsky Theatre with a thorough rehearsal of each line and mise-en-scène with the Mariinsky Opera artistes. Production Designer: Simone Maninno. Costume Designer: Alessandro Lai. Lighting Designer: Pasquale Mari. Musical Director and Conductor: Valery Gergiev.

The premiere performances at the Mariinsky II will also take place on 27 May (at 3 pm and 8 pm). Giuseppe Verdi nurtured the idea of writing a comic opera for some forty years. In 1887, his librettist and friend Arrigo Boito, who was aware of the composer’s idea, adapted a libretto based on William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor with additional comic interludes from Henry IV. “I’ve wanted to write a comic opera for forty years, and I’ve known ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ for fifty… however, the usual buts which are everywhere always prevented me from satisfying this wish of mine. Now Boito has resolved all the ‘buts’, and has made me a lyric comedy unlike any other. I have fun making its music; without any plans whatsoever, and I don’t even know if I’ll ever finish it, ” Giuseppe Verdi confided in one of his letters.

Falstaff’s premiere in Milan in 1893 turned into a grand celebration of the composer’s 80^th anniversary. The opera was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia just a year after the world premiere, on 17 January 1894. The best vocalists took part in the performance under the baton of Eduard Nápravník, including Arkady Chernov, Ivan Goncharov, Mikhail Mikhailov, Yevgeniya Mravina, and Fyodor Stravinsky. Despite the opera’s initial success with the Russian public, it was coolly received by critics and soon left the Mariinsky Theatre stage for more than a century. The Mariinsky Theatre revived Falstaff only in 2006 and presented a brand new production. Today some of the artistes who took part in the performances back in 2000s are ready to get back on stage for the premiere shows.

Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will perform twice at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre on 1 May as part of the XVII Moscow Easter Festival.

The 2 pm concert features a broad range of works by Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, and Jean Sibelius to be performed by guest instrumentalists and the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre. Richard Strauss’ symphonic poem Don Quixote will be performed by Yuri Afonkin (viola) and David Geringas (cello), while the featured soloist for Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto is Kristóf Baráti. Excerpts from Claude Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande will be performed by Vladimir Moroz (Pelléas), Andrei Serov (Golaud), Oleg Sychov (Arkel), and Elena Vitman (Geneviève).

The soirée performance (7 pm) will feature one of the most prominent pianists of his generation – the Korean phenomenon Seong-Jin Cho – in concert with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev. He will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20. The second part of the concert will see the performance of the excerpts from Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser. The vocal parts will be sung by Oleg Videman (Heinrich Tannhäuser), Irina Churilova (Elisabeth), and Pavel Yankovsky (Wolfram von Eschenbach).

Then Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will go to Moscow, where they will give two concerts the very next day: at the Concert Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the participation of Kristóf Baráti and Seong-Jin Cho (2 May, 1 pm) and at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall with the participation of Denis Matsuev (2 May, 7 pm).

Just a quick reminder: the XVII Moscow Easter Festival runs from 8 April to 9 May 2018 with the support of the Moscow Government, the Russian Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Defense and the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The festival will close with a gala concert of the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev at Poklonnaya Gora on Victory Day, 9 May.

On 22 April, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will take part in the concert celebrating 20 years of one of Europe’s major concert and theatrical venues, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (Germany). They will perform Symphony No 2 by Jean Sibelius and Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky.

The Mariinsky Theatre and the Festspielhaus are long-time creative collaborators. It was none other than Valery Gergiev who, back then at the helm of the World Orchestra for Peace, performed at the opening of the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. Nowadays the Mariinsky Theatre has a joint production of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta with the Festspielhaus. The Mariinsky Theatre ensemble has also successfully performed at this European venue. Apart from the Mariinsky Ballet tours, which annually take place around Christmas, the Mariinsky Theatre traditionally takes part in the Summer Festival at the Festspielhaus. A programme of symphony concerts and opera productions developed by Valery Gergiev will conclude this music forum in July 2018. Baden-Baden will see the performance of Francesco Cilea’s opera Adriana Lecouvreur (season 2016/2017 premiere) with Anna Netrebko, Yekaterina Semenchuk, and Yusif Eyvazov in lead roles. The two symphony programmes will see the performances of the music by Russians composers, namely Sergei Rachmaninoff, Alexander Scriabin, and Modest Mussorgsky. Daniil Trifonov is set to take part in the performances.

After performing at the Festspielhaus (22 April), Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will return to Russia and continue their XVII Moscow Easter Festival tour. On 23 April the ensemble will give two concerts in Yekaterinburg; on 24 April the ensemble will perform in Naberezhnye Chelny and Almetyevsk; on 25 April – in Kirov.

On 25 May (19.00), the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, one of the oldest orchestras in the world, will perform under the baton of Christian Thielemann at the Mariinsky II. The ensemble will come to St Petersburg as part of their European tour, which also includes concerts in Moscow, Kaliningrad, Paris, Lucerne, and Baden-Baden.

The programme for the Mariinsky II performance includes the overture to Carl Maria von Weber's opera Oberon, Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 4, and Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the featured soloist Denis Matsuev, who has held the honorary position of artist-in-residence at the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden since October 2017. This season the Russian pianist has already performed with the orchestra at the Semperoper multiple times. This season the Russian pianist has already performed with the orchestra at the Semperoper multiple times.

The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden traces its origins to the middle of the 16^th century. At different times the Staatskapelle was headed by famous musicians, such as Heinrich Schütz, Johann Adolph Hasse, Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner; in the 20^th and 21^st centuries – by conductors Fritz Reiner, Karl Böhm, Herbert Blomstedt, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and Bernard Haitink. The Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden has a many-year-long connection to Richard Strauss; nine of the composer’s operas were premiered at the Semperoper with the participation of the ensemble. The orchestra still takes part in the Semperoper productions recordings, tours abroad, and releases music. Recent additions include DVD and BluRay versions of Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin (featuring Anna Netrebko) and Die Walküre performances from the 2017 Salzburg Easter Festival.

Since 2012 Christian Thielemann has been chief conductor of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. He started his career working as Herbert von Karajan's assistant; he went on to become Generalmusikdirektor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Thielemann has collaborated with many symphony and opera ensembles, including the Munich Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Vienna State Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. Thielemann is a regular conductor at the Bayreuth Festival, following his début in 2000. He has been Musical Advisor of the festival since 2010. In 2013 Christian Thielemann was named Artistic Director of Salzburg Easter Festival. Christian Thielemann’s core repertoire consists of German and Austrian Romantic music. His performances of Richard Wagner’s operas (including the tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen) and those of Richard Strauss were critically acclaimed. Apart from operas, the conductor has recorded all of Ludwig van Beethoven’s and Robert Schumann’s symphonies, orchestra pieces and fragments from operas by Carl Maria von Weber, Albert Lortzing, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Hans Pfitzner, Arnold Schoenberg and other composers.

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On 16 and 17 April, the soloists of the Mariinsky Opera, the Mariinsky Chorus and the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will perform at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, a major concert and theatrical venue in China. The musicians will go on tour right after their concert in Novosibirsk, which is held as part of the XVII Moscow Easter Festival.

In Beijing, the Mariinsky Theatre will present a monographic programme dedicated to Modest Mussorgsky. April 16 performance will feature the overture to the opera Khovanshchina, Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bald Mountain and the song cycle for voice called Songs and Dances of Death. Mikhail Petrenko is the featured soloist for the performance. April 17 performance will feature a concert version of the opera Khovanshchina. The lead roles will be performed by Mikhail Petrenko (Prince Ivan Khovansky), Sergei Semishkur (Prince Andrei Khovansky), Mikhail Vekua (Prince Vasily Golitzin), Roman Burdenko (Shaklovity), Stanislav Trofimov (Dosifei), Yekaterina Sergeeva (Marfa).

Then Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will continue the Russian leg of the XVII Moscow Easter Festival tour. On 18 April, the ensemble will give two concerts in Krasnoyarsk (the Krasnoyarsk Regional Philharmonic); on 19 April they will perform in Tomsk (the Tomsk Regional State Philharmonic) and Kemerovo (the Kuzbass Region State Philharmonic); on 20 April they will perform in Omsk (the Omsk Philharmonic); on 21 April – in Surgut (the Neftyanik Palace of Arts).

On 22 April, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will take part in the festive programme marking 20 year since the foundation of the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden (Germany), one of Europe’s major concert halls. They will perform Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.