The XIX International Conservatory Week festival will run from 19 October to 2 November at the St Petersburg Conservatory and other major concert venues in the city. The festival was established in 2001, and ever since then it has been the only one of its kind in the music world. In 2019 St Petersburg will become home to many young musicians and established professors from eighteen schools of music based in sixteen countries. They will present the latest achievements of the schools at which they study or teach and will offer both music professionals and discerning aficionados of music an excellent opportunity to learn more about their traditions in composing, performing, research and education.
This international music forum comprises a concert section and a research section. Special programmes of the International Conservatory Week festival will commemorate significant events in the history of Russian and world music culture, including the UK-Russia Year of Music and the Year of Theatre in Russia.
The XIX International Conservatory Week festival carries on the tradition of presenting operatic works that have never before been performed in Russia’s “Northern Capital”. On 20 October the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host the Russian premiere of the opera Where the Wild Things Are by British composer Oliver Knussen.
The opera is based on the eponymous book written by American author and artist Maurice Sendak. Published in 1963, this book instantly became a classic of children’s literature in the United States, and one year later it was recognised as the best picture book in the world. In the late 1970s, on commission from the Opéra National de Bruxelles (Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie), Maurice Sendak together with Oliver Knussen produced an opera libretto and designed the costumes and sets for the production. Such is the history behind the fantasy-opera in nine scenes for six soloists and orchestra. The original version of Where the Wild Things Are was premiered in Belgium in 1980. The final version was first performed in 1984 in London, and then the opera came to be staged in Saint Paul and New York (USA).
The opera tells the story of a little boy, Max, who, after an argument with his mother, is sent to bed without his supper. His room is suddenly transformed into a dense and wild forest. Max finds a boat and sails to a wonderland where he meets the Wild Things and becomes their King. Despite all the fun and dances with the Wild Things, Max misses his mother so he leaves the wonderland and comes back home where, on the table, he discovers a hot supper waiting for him. The opera was written for young people and appeals to their interests. The music is vibrant and highly theatrical, and the composer uses a large number of percussion instruments which sound unusual and imaginative. The opera also has many dance scenes and lighting effects which make the production more attractive and interesting for the audience.
The performance of this fantasy-opera will be presented by the composer’s compatriots Rhian Lois (soprano), Kate Howden (mezzo-soprano), Robin Bailey (tenor), Nicholas Morris (baritone), Benedict Nelson (baritone) and Thomas Bennett (bass) with the Shadwell Opera Symphony Orchestra, members of which are students and graduates of higher schools of music in the UK. Finnegan Downie Dear, an ardent proponent of contemporary music, will be at the conductor’s podium, while Jack Furness will be the director.
