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The opening night gala concert will feature Ildar Abdrazakov, Yuri Bashmet, Olga Borodina, Plácido Domingo, Leonidas Kavakos, Yekaterina Kondaurova, Ulyana Lopatkina, Alexei Markov, Denis Matsuev, Anna Netrebko, Yevgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Sergei Semishkur, Vladimir Shklyarov, Diana Vishneva, the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers, the Orchestra and Children’s Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.
Highlights of opening events include Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta featuring Anna Netrebko, Balanchine’s Jewels featuring Yekaterina Kondaurova, Vladimir Shklyarov, Ulyana Lopatkina and Danila Korsuntsev, Verdi’s Nabucco featuring Plácido Domingo and Maria Guleghina and a performance honouring prima ballerina Diana Vishneva.
St Petersburg, Russia, March 19, 2013 – The Mariinsky Theatre, one of the largest and most acclaimed performing arts institutions in the world, under the leadership of Artistic and General Director Valery Gergiev, today announced that its new state-of-the-art opera house, the Mariinsky II, will open to the public with three celebratory days of star-studded music and dance performances from 2 to 4 May 2013. Further defining the Mariinsky as one of the world’s premier centres for classical music, opera and ballet, the opening of the new theatre marks the completion of the Mariinsky Cultural Complex on St Petersburg’s historic Theatre Square and provides the legendary Russian organisation with even greater artistic possibilities. To inaugurate the Mariinsky II, and to celebrate the Cultural Complex, a three-day, three-venue celebration will showcase the dynamic range of all of the Mariinsky Theatre’s prestigious companies: the Mariinsky Opera, Ballet, Orchestra, Chorus and Youth Ensembles.
Celebrations will begin on 2 May with a black-tie opening night gala concert conducted by Valery Gergiev and featuring renowned vocalists and instrumentalists including Ildar Abdrazakov, Yuri Bashmet, Olga Borodina, Plácido Domingo, Leonidas Kavakos, Alexei Markov, Denis Matsuev, Anna Netrebko, Yevgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko and Sergei Semishkur as well as the Mariinsky’s acclaimed ballet dancers Yekaterina Kondaurova, Ulyana Lopatkina, Vladimir Shklyarov and Diana Vishneva. The stage production directed by Vasily Barkhatov, with production design by Zinovy Margolin and lighting design by Damir Ismagilov, will feature imagery that connects the Mariinsky’s legendary two-hundred-year history with its contemporary leading role in the performing arts. Students from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers, the Orchestra and Children’s Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre will also perform. This evening of multi-generational performances will pay homage to the grand traditions of the theatre and will celebrate the beginning of a new era. “The opening of the Mariinsky II is the moment to reaffirm the long and great heritage of this institution while celebrating a future in which we are able to create new works and innovative productions as never before,” stated Valery Gergiev, who is currently marking his 25th anniversary with the institution. “The programmes for our inaugural festival have been chosen to demonstrate the extraordinary range of our companies and our expanded Centre, while reflecting both the history of the Mariinsky and the theatre’s engagement with today’s audiences and with all phases of contemporary opera, ballet and orchestral music.”
On 3 May at the Mariinsky II, the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet will present Mariusz Treliński’s production of Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta featuring Anna Netrebko and Sergei Semishkur, Alexei Markov, Sergei Aleksashkin, conducted by Valery Gergiev. That evening at the Mariinsky II, the Mariinsky Ballet will perform Balanchine’s ballet Jewels showcasing Yekaterina Kondaurova, Vladimir Shklyarov, Ulyana Lopatkina and Danila Korsuntsev. The day will come to a close with a late night concert at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre two blocks away featuring the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by maestro Gergiev with soloists including Yuri Bashmet, Leonidas Kavakos, Denis Matsuev and Vadim Repin.
On 4 May, the opening festivities will conclude with a performance honouring prima ballerina Diana Vishneva including Balanchine’s Symphony in C and Vishneva performing in Paul Lightfoot’s Subject to Change. An evening performance by the Mariinsky Opera of Verdi’s Nabucco will follow, featuring Plácido Domingo and Maria Guleghina, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Sergei Skorokhodov and Mikhail Kit, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Prior to the public opening, past and current Mariinsky performers, along with family and community members, will be invited to the Mariinsky II for a special celebratory preview performance.
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