© Oleg Zotov

Alina Somova starring in Giselle Mariinsky Theatre Friday, September 27, 8:00PM Thursday, October 17, 8:00PM starring in Cinderella Mariinsky II (new stage) Saturday, October 5, 8:00PM starring in The Little Humpbacked Horse Mariinsky II (new stage) Monday, October 7, 8:00PM starring in Rubies (Jewels) Mariinsky II (new stage) Monday, October 14, 7:00PM starring in The Sleeping Beauty Mariinsky II (new stage) Monday, October 28, 7:00PM

Viktoria Tereshkina starring in La Bayadère Mariinsky Theatre Thursday, September 26, 7:00PM starring in Romeo and Juliet Mariinsky II (new stage) Friday, October 4, 7:00PM Friday, October 18, 7:00PM starring in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Mariinsky Theatre Friday, October 11, 8:00PM starring in Diamonds (Jewels) Mariinsky II (new stage) Monday, October 14, 7:00PM

At the end of last season, Alina Somova and Viktoria Tereshkina, principal dancers with the Mariinsky Ballet, have returned on stage after maternity leave.

This season Alina Somova has already danced the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet on the opening night at the historical Mariinsky Theatre. Critics referred to her as a “hypnotic phenomenon” in ballet, characterising as “classical”, “beautiful” and “musically eloquent”. Over ten seasons with the Mariinsky Ballet this “refined ballerina with her ideal lines, sense of pose and beautiful physical features” has performed in almost every classical ballet. Alina Somova will next dance at the Mariinsky Theatre on Friday, September 27 and Thursday, October 17 when she appears in the title role in Giselle. In October she will star in a series of performances at the new Mariinsky Theatre (Mariinsky II): performing the title role in Cinderella on Saturday, October 5, the role of the Tsar-Maiden in The Little Humpbacked Horse on Monday, October 7, the solo role in Balanchine’s Rubies (Jewels) on Monday, October 14 and the role of Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty on Monday, October 28.

In the beginning of this season, the thirteenth one for Viktoria Tereshkina with the Mariinsky Ballet, she debuted in the role of Carmen in ;Alberto Alonso’s Carmen Suite and danced it once again a week later. This season she has also appeared in Roland Petit’s Le Jeune Homme et la Mort. Critics speak of her as “astoundingly powerful technician” and note “the combination of her vertiginously long legs and fearless balance” describing the ballerina as “absolutely gorgeous”. Viktoria Tereshkina will next dance at the Mariinsky Theatre on Thursday, September 26 and Friday, October 11, performing roles of Nikia in La Bayadère and Titania A Midsummer Night’s Dream, respectively. At the new Mariinsky Theatre (Mariinsky II) she will dance the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet on Friday, October 4 and Friday, October 18, as well as the solo role in Balanchine’s Diamonds (Jewels) on Monday, October 14.

On tour in the USA and Canada: 2...15 October 2013
Mariinsky Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Denis Matsuev, piano
Chicago, IL: October 2
Montreal: October 4
Toronto: October 6
New York (Carnegie Hall): October 10, 11 & 15
Newark, NJ: October 13
Washington D.C.: October 14
Ignat Solzhenitsyn, conductor
Ithaca, NY: October 7
Princeton, NJ: October 8
Purchase, NY: October 12
Members of the Mariinsky Orchestra
New York (Zankel Hall at the Carnegie Hall): October 9

This autumn the Mariinsky Orchestra will once again embark on its annual North American tour that will last from October 2 to 15.

Eight concerts on this tour — in Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, New York (three concerts), Newark and Washington D.C. — will be conducted by Valery Gergiev presenting the Russian repertoire — works by Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninov and Dmitry Shostakovich. Four of these concerts will star pianist Denis Matsuev, longtime participant of lots of Maestro Gergiev’s musical projects.

Concerts in Chicago (October 2), Toronto (October 6) and Washington D.C. (October 14) will feature the music of three Stravinsky’s early ballets — The Firebird (1910), Pétrouchka (1911) and Le Sacre du printemps (1913). Concerts will mark the centenary of the world premiere of Le Sacre du printemps that was received at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris in May 1913 (choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, with set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich) and became one of the most famous of all classical music riots. Two other ballets also received their premieres at the Parisian theatres, as part of Les Ballets Russes de Serge de Diaghilev, both choreographed by Michel Fokine, with set designs and costumes by Alexander Golovin, Léon Bakst (The Firebird) and Alexandre Benois (Pétrouchka).

The concert in Montreal (October 4) will feature works by Rachmaninov — symphonic poem The Rock, Piano Concerto No. 2 and Symphonic Dances.

The concert in Newark, NJ (October 13) will feature Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Stravinsky’s The Firebird.

The tour will culminate with three concerts at the Carnegie Hall in New York, each featuring works by a sole composer — Stravinsky (October 10), Shostakovich (October 11) and Rachmaninov (October 15). The concert on October 10 will feature The Firebird, Pétrouchka and Le Sacre du printemps, on October 11 — Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 8, on October 15 — Piano Concerto No. 3 and Symphonic Dances.

Conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn, familiar to the US audiences, will conduct three concerts on this tour — in Ithaca, NY (October 7), Princeton, NJ (October 8) and Purchase, NY (October 12), each featuring Mussorgsky’s symphonic tableau Night on Bald Mountain, Rachmaninov’s symphonic poem Isle of the Dead, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.

Members of the Mariinsky Orchestra — Sofia Kiprskaya (harp), Oleg Sendetsky (cello), Yuri Afonkin (viola), Alexei Lukirsky (violin), Anton Kozmin (violin), Timur Martynov (trumpet), Nikolai Mokhov (flute), Rodion Tolmachev (bassoon) and Ivan Stolbov (clarinet) will play a recital at the Zankel Hall of the Carnegie Hall (October 9) presenting a large program of works from chamber music repertoire.

© Marco Borggreve

Valery Gergiev and members of the Mariinsky Opera at the Metropolitan Opera Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin September 23 & 26, October 1, 5, 9 & 12 Shostakovich The Nose September 28, October 3, 8 & 12 In September-October Valery Gergiev conducts a pair of opera productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York — six performances of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (September 23 & 26, October 1, 5, 9 & 12) and four performances of Shostakovich’s The Nose (September 28, October 3, 8 & 12). The new production of Eugene Onegin directed by Deborah Warner starring the cast of soprano Anna Netrebko (Tatiana), baritone Mariusz Kwiecien (Onegin), tenor Piotr Beczała (Lensky), mezzo-soprano Oksana Volkova (Olga) and the Mariinsky Opera bass Alexei Tanovitsky (Gremin) has inaugurated the new season at the Met Opera this Monday. The performance has set a record for Anna Netebko who has become the first soprano, in the company’s history, to sing a lead role at the opening night gala three years in a row. Performances of The Nose are the revival of William Kentridge’s production (co-produced with the Festival d’Aix en Provence and the Opéra National de Lyon) that Valery Gergiev had conducted at the Met in March 2010 when the work was brought to the company’s repertoire for the first time. These performances feature a number of the Mariinsky Opera soloists, notably, tenor Andrei Popov who sings the role of Police Inspector. Valery Gergiev made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1992 conducting performances by the Mariinsky Opera on tour in New York. He works with the company closely since 1994 and conducted almost 150 opera performances there.

Guest orchestras at the Mariinsky Concert Hall and Mariinsky II
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Mariinsky Concert Hall
Friday, October 11, 8:00PM
The Trondheim Soloists ensemble
Mariinsky Concert Hall
Tuesday, October 15, 7:00PM
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra
Mariinsky Concert Hall
Thursday, October 17, 7:00PM
Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse
Mariinsky II (new stage)
Sunday, October 27, 8:00PM
Mariinsky Concert Hall
Monday, October 28, 8:00PM
Ural Academic Symphony Orchestra
Mariinsky Concert Hall
Sunday, November 3, 7:00PM
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Mariinsky II (new stage)
Saturday, November 23, 8:00PM
Mariinsky Concert Hall
Sunday, November 24, 8:00PM

In October-November, a number of guest orchestras will visit St Petersburg to play concerts at the Mariinsky Concert Hall and the new Mariinsky Theatre (Mariinsky II). The series will be launched with performances by the Scandinavian orchestras — the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra will play on October 11 and the Trondheim Soloists ensemble will play on October 15. They will be followed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra playing a concert on October 17. The Ural Academic Symphony Orchestra from Yekaterinburg, Russia will launch their own subscription series in St Petersburg with a concert on November 3 (this season the orchestra will also play on January 12 and March 25, 2014). A pair of concerts will be played by both the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (October 27 & 28) and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (November 23 & 24). We’ll introduce all six orchestras in more detail in our further e-newsletters. Follow our news.