The XXII Gergiev Festival opens in Rotterdam

From 14 to 17 September Rotterdam will host the twenty-second Gergiev Festival of music. The De Doelen concert hall will see Valery Geregiev conduct the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Orchestra and the combined Youth Orchestra of the Codarts University of the Arts and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. Other participants are to include the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, violinist Liza Ferschtman (The Netherlands) and pianist Ole Christian Haagenrud (Norway), who will present chamber music programmes at the festival.

The theme of the XXII Gergiev Festival will be the Russian avant-garde and the 100^th anniversary of the Revolution of 1917, and thee key composers are Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitry Shostakovich.

On the opening evening, 14 September, the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev will perform Alexander Scriabin's Le Poème de l'extase and Reverie and the music to Igor Stravinsky's ballet Le Sacre du printemps and Funeral Song, to be performed in The Netherlands for the very first time.

On 15 September the Dutch orchestra and the Rotterdam Symphony Chorus will present the programme Revolution, featuring works by Gavriil Popov (Chamber Symphony), Sergei Prokofiev (Cantata for the 20^th Anniversary of the October Revolution) and Boris Tishchenko (music for the ballet The Twelve).

The third day of the festival will be filled with music by Dmitry Shostakovich. At the matinee, under the baton of Valery Gergiev, the combined Youth Orchestra of the Codarts University of the Arts and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague will perform his Fifth Symphony. In the evening Valery Gergiev will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra. The programme is to include Alexander Mosolov's Factory. Machine Music, and Dmitry Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony and Piano Concerto No 1. Soloist – Alexei Volodin.

The XXII Gergiev Festival will conclude on 17 September with a special event for a young audience – the concert will combine an actor's speech, drawing with sand (so-called "sand animation") and music from Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Elim Chan (Hong Kong).

The Mariinsky Orchestra will then continue a European tour. On 17 September under Valery Gergiev the ensemble will appear at the LX Ghent Festival of Flanders (Belgium) – an annual music event, its programme including over one hundred and eighty concerts. St Bavo's Cathedral will host a performance of Alexander Mosolov's Factory. Machine Music, Dmitry Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony and Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No 1. Soloist – Pavel Milyukov, prize-winner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition.