21st Stars of the White Nights Music Festival
Mariinsky Theatre, Mariinsky II (new stage), Mariinsky Concert Hall
May 24 — July 28, 2013

The 21st edition of the Stars of the White Nights Music Festival has started in St Petersburg last week. This year, the Festival runs at the historic and the new stage of the Mariinsky Theatre as well as at the Mariinsky Concert Hall. It will run for the next eight weeks, till Sunday, July 28 and will present nearly 120 events during this period.

Live 3D broadcast: Swan Lake
Thursday, June 6, 2013, 9:30PM

The late evening of Thursday, June 6 will see an important event, for both the Mariinsky Theatre and the world of technology — the performance of Swan Lake, which will be conducted by Valery Gergiev and will feature Yekaterina Kondaurova and Timur Askerov in the principal roles, will be broadcast live from the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in 3D format at over 1200 cinemas in Russia and in 50 countries throughout the world. The ballet will simultaneously be shown onscreen at the new Mariinsky Theatre (Mariinsky II). Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake choreographed by Marius Petipa (1895) and revised by Konstantin Sergeyev (1950) widely regarded as hallmark production of the Mariinsky Ballet.

Guest company
Batsheva Dance Company (Tel Aviv)
Mariinsky Theatre
Sunday, June 9, 8:00PM
Monday, June 10, 8:00PM

The Israeli Batsheva Dance Company that has been critically acclaimed and popularly embraced as one of the most exciting contemporary dance companies in the world will make their guest appearance at the Mariinsky Theatre with a pair of performances on Sunday, June 9 and Monday, June 10. Batsheva Dance Company was founded as a repertory company in 1964 by the Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, who enlisted Martha Graham as artistic advisor. Together with its junior Batsheva Ensemble, which cultivates dancers from ages 18-24 and carries out the educational agenda of Batsheva, the organisation boasts a roster of 40 dancers drawn from Israel and abroad. Touring extensively throughout the country and internationally, the two companies present 250 performances annually.

The Batsheva Dance Company’s tour to Russia is dedicated to the 65th anniversary of founding of the State of Israel. St Petersburg audiences will see Deca Dance based on Charles Bukowski’s works with the original music and music design & editing by Maxim Waratt. The work was choreographed by Ohad Naharin, the company’s Artistic Director since 1990.

The company practices Ohad Naharin’s adventurous curatorial vision, distinctive choreographic voice, and revolutionary movement language, Gaga. Through daily training in Gaga, Batsheva’s dancers research new movement possibilities and awaken their dynamic sensitivity. They bring an eager curiosity and ripe imagination to rehearsals, where they participate actively in the creative process.

Guest orchestra
Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra (Moscow)
Conductor: Vladimir Fedoseyev
Mariinsky Concert Hall
Tuesday, June 11, 8:00PM

On Tuesday, June 11 the Mariinsky Concert Hall will host a performance by the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Fedoseyev. Originally founded as the USSR State Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra in 1930, the orchestra is regarded as one of the major ones in Russia. Vladimir Fedoseyev became the orchestra’s Music Director and Principal Conductor in 1974.

The orchestra will make their first appearance at the Mariinsky Concert Hall, playing Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter) and Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony. Vladimir Fedoseyev’s musical career started in St Petersburg (then, Leningrad), and that’s why the upcoming concert is particularly valuable to the renowned Russian maestro.