In October, the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will see the premiere of a new project Diana Vishneva: Dialogues. This June, at the Stars of the White Nights Festival, St Petersburg audiences had already got a chance to see a part of this ballet: Errand into the Maze by Martha Graham. Two other works in this project were specially choreographed for Diana Vishneva by John Neumeier: Dialog and by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León: Subject to Change.

Toward the close of the previous season at the Mariinsky Concert Hall, we presented a premiere of Benjamin Britten’s opera A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Claudia Solti. To her, this work marked a debut in the opera genre — prior to that she was working only on movies. The premiere has caused a real furore of emotions. The whole performance is staged in a fantasy style. The production features acrobats. The designer directed the stage space with the usage of mirrors. The lighting provides a rich palette of colours that reflect the overall mood of each scene. Costumes are versatile, presenting each character in their unique appearance. All in all, the performance is filled with humor and tells all the details of Shakespeare’s comedy in an accessible, bright and colourful language of music and theatrical performance.

Photo: costume sketches and scenery layout for A Midsummer Night’s Dream production;
Photo: rehearsing A Midsummer Night’s Dream production;
Photo: first-night performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in July 2011;
Text: William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream original text (annotated HTML-version).

In October, we are presenting a concert series Laureates of the 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition that features pianists Seong Jin Cho and Daniil Trifonov and cellists Edgar Moreau and Narek Hakhnazaryan. Valery Gergiev has already presented Competition Winners in London. In addition, Narek Hakhnazaryan performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra in Yerevan, and in a few days, Daniil Trifonov will take part in a concert on stage of the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. The Winners’ Gala that launched a new season of the London Symphony Orchestra literally took the British media by storm as as the “gala concert was the first chance London has had to see the results” of the famous Moscow Competition. The Guardian reviewer believed that “the brightest star of the evening” was the twenty-three-year-old Narek Hakhnazaryan, who performed Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, displaying “real maturity.” The critic also stated that twenty-year-old Daniil Trifonov (*) was a “charismatic young Russian” for the frenzy of his performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and his display of “exhilarating confidence and formidable technique.” In Daniil Trifonov’s “first-class performance” a critic from The Times focussed on the musician’s “showmanship without ostentatious theatrics, and a generous willingness” to let the orchestra and conductor “take the lead where the music required it.”

* — Daniil Trifonov, 1st Prize 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition Winner, the Grand Prix Winner for the best performance with a chamber orchestra and the Audience Award Winner will perform in a concert on October 25th with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev. The pianist will perform Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto.

In October, within the framework of Year of Russian culture and Russian language in Italy and of Italian culture and Italian language in Russia, the stage of our theater will host performances by one of the oldest opera theaters in Europe — the famous Teatro di San Carlo of Naples. The Company will present I pagliacci (*), an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca (**), who is familiar to St Petersburg audiences for his production of Aida at the Mariinsky Concert Hall that became one of the most exciting opera premieres of the last season. In addition to these staged performances, an acclaimed maestro Nello Santi will conduct a Gala-program of works by Giuseppe Verdi (***), which are seldom heard in Russia.

* — Leoncavallo’s opera I pagliacci in a stage production of the Mariinsky Theatre will be revived on November 10th at the Mariinsky Theatre. Vladimir Galuzin will sing the main part.

** — Verdi’s opera Aida directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca will be presented on November 15th, 17th and 19th at the Mariinsky Concert Hall.

*** — Famous choirs and scenes from Verdi’s operas will be performed by the Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra on October 29th at the Mariinsky Concert Hall.

In October, a roster of great musicians will perform solo recitals on stage of the Mariinsky Concert Hall. Pianist Alexei Volodin, who will perform on Tchaikovsky Day in St Petersburg, will be playing, among other works, a Concert suite from the ballet The Nutcracker arranged for piano solo. Violinist Sergei Khachatryan will play a program of sonatas and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach. Mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina (*) will perform songs and romances by Russian composers. Svetlana Berezhnaya, one of the top five Russian organists, will present a program of famous works for organ.

* — Olga Borodina will sing the role of Marfa in Mussorgsky’s opera Khovanshchina on October 26th at the Mariinsky Theatre, and will also perform the solo part in Verdi’s Requiem on November 6th at the Mariinsky Concert Hall. Both events will be conducted by Valery Gergiev.

From October 4th to 23rd, the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev give a major North American tour that stretches from East to West Coast and includes Canada.

The central tour event was the opening of the new season at the Carnegie Hall, this year celebrating its 120th anniversary. Its history began with a performance by Tchaikovsky in 1891 when on the opening night the composer conducted the New York Symphony Orchestra, performing his Festival Coronation March. In memory of this legendary event, in October 5th Gala, our Orchestra performed Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra by Tchaikovsky, the solo part was played by the world renowned virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma. The other four Carnegie Hall programs are all six symphonies by Tchaikovsky and his First Piano Concerto, which will feature Daniil Trifonov, 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition Grand Prix Winner. Far not every band gets an honorable role to launch a new season at the Carnegie Hall, and not only to perform just one or two things, but to present a series of five concerts, making a kind of mini-festival of Russian music in New York. In addition, it is the second time when the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev open the season at the Carnegie Hall (the other year was in 2003).

Last Autumn, during the USA tour, the Mariinsky Orchestra performed symphonies by Mahler at the Carnegie Hall and other venues. This year we are presenting symphonic legacy of Tchaikovsky — his works make the bulk of the concert program this year. The tour also includes works by other Russian classics: Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich.

As part of Year of Russian culture and Russian language in Italy and of Italian culture and Italian language in Russia, the Mariinsky Ballet will be holding a residency at the Teatro Regio in Turin. We will perform ballets that are closely linked with St Petersburg and the Mariinsky Theatre: Swan Lake, La Bayadère and ballets choreographed by Michel Fokine: Polovtsian Dances, Le Spectre de la rose, The Dying Swan, Schéhérazade. Gianandrea Noseda, who is the Musical Director of the Teatro Regio now, for long time worked as Principal Guest Conductor of the Mariinsky Theatre.

During the three October evenings at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus in Germany, within the framework of a concert series Valery Gergiev conducts Tchaikovsky, the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra will perform all six symphonies by the great Russian composer. Valery Gergiev will present the Winners of the 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition: pianist Daniil Trifonov (*) (October 28th), cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan (**) (October 29th) and violinist Sergei Dogadin (October 30th).

* — Daniil Trifonov will perform with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra under Valery Gergiev on October 25th and in a solo recital on October 26th at the Mariinsky Concert Hall.

** — Narek Hakhnazaryan will perform on October 21st in a solo recital at the Mariinsky Concert Hall.

A couple of new releases appeared on the Mariinsky Label, our own record label, earlier this month. For the first time these recordings came out in DVD and Blu-Ray (ten previous recordings released on the Mariinsky Label were all in SACD). The advent of new recording formats greatly expands the label’s avenues, because it gives an opportunity to capture not only audio but also video stuff, and allows to produce recordings of full-length ballet and opera performances from the Mariinsky Theatre.

Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies by Tchaikovsky were recorded at the famous Salle Pleyel in January 2010 during performances of the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra, which opened the Year of France – Russia in Paris. In that series of concerts, our Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev for the first time performed the complete cycle of Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies.

George Balanchine’s masterpiece Jewels (*) reflects influences of three major ballet schools: the French, the American and the Russian, showing the charm, beauty and grandeur of dance. The recording, which was made in April 2006, features a roster of well-known ballet dancers: Zhanna Ayupova, Ulyana Lopatkina, Igor Zelensky, Andrian Fadeyev, et.al.

* — Jewels will be performed at the Mariinsky Theatre on November 17th.