• 11th International Mariinsky Ballet Festival continues
• Orchestra and Chorus on tour: Moscow Easter Festival
• New opera production: The Station Master

11th International Mariinsky Ballet Festival started on the 14th of April and was launched with the premiere of the ballet Le Parc choreographed by the famous modern choreographer Angelin Preljocaj. Choreographer who directed the rehearsals of our ballet troupe, has adapted his original 1994 version he created for the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris. The play tells the story of growing up a woman’s soul, turning the theme of mature heart into cultivation of sensuality. Three different pairs of artists, specially casted by Mr. Preljocaj, demonstrated a wide range of interpretations, filling the “graceful French Thing” with new interesting ideas. The result is a sensual and beautiful spectacle in the interior of Louis XV.

11-th International Mariinsky Ballet Festival continues: till the end of this week, every evening at the Mariinsky Theatre features the appearance of guest «stars» from the leading ballet companies, along with dancers of our theater equal to them by their status. Ballets of different styles and epochs will be presented: they can definitely satisfy almost any taste of the most demanding ballet lovers. The festival will come to a close on Sunday with a magnificent gala concert starring all dancers.

The coming Sunday launches the 10th issue of Moscow Easter Festival. Over 10 years of its existence, the festival has reached an unprecedented scope: this year it will cover five countries, nearly fourty Russian cities, in 16 days the festival will present over one hundred concerts. Moscow Easter Festival would have not become possible without the participation of the Mariinsky Theatre artists and Valery Gergiev, who is the initiator, founder and artistic director of the Festival. Thanks to his tremendous energy and excellent performance of artists of our theater that made possible the realisation of a range of brightest and most ambitious projects, which are important for both the society and the country in terms of cultural development and education. More than half of the events of the Moscow Easter Festival are charitable and have a high mission of goodness and light that always associated with Easter Sunday. Performers of Opera and the Academy of Young Singers, Chorus and Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, as well as several guest artists and music ensembles will perform in multiple cities across Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus, presenting a wide range of musical works. Detailed program can be found on the official web-site of the Moscow Easter Festival.

In anticipation of and within the framework of the Festival, the Mariinsky Concert Hall will see a few concerts that feature great masterpieces of Russian music: sacred, patriotic, lyrical.

Next week sees the premiere of Alexander Smelkov’s opera The Station Master set to the novel by Alexander Pushkin. His novel from the book of Tales of Belkin written in the style of sentimental touches on the theme of “a little human-being”. With a gentle smile and a kind humour, the novel tells the story of Pushkin’s time Russia and its inhabitants. Musical language of Alexander Smelkov features a high respect for the original story and the use of stylistically correct means of expression. His opera The Brothers Karamazov, which was premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in 2008, received a positive audience reception, because it shows the original author’s ideas, expressed with the language of music in natural and truthful way.