A tour by the Mariinsky Theatre to countries of the Asian-Pacific Region

During the II Far East Festival Mariinsky, which runs from 15 July to 13 August, the Mariinsky Theatre will be presenting a vivid international programme.

On 29 and 30 July the Mariinsky Orchestra, soloists of the Opera Company and the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers together with the National Chorus of Korea will appear at the Pyeongchang Music Festival (South Korea), the capital city where the Winter Olympic Games will be held in 2018. On 29 July at the Alpensia Music Tent there will be a concert performance of Sergei Prokofiev's opera The Love for Three Oranges. The following day will see a gala concert, the programme to include arias from the operas Boris Godunov, Khovanshchina, The Tsar's Bride, Eugene Onegin and Prince Igor as well as Pyotr Tchaikovsky's cantata Moscow and highlights from Sergei Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil.

The vocal roles will be performed by: Margarita Ivanova (soprano), Yekaterina Shimanovich (soprano), Evelina Agabalaeva (mezzo-soprano), Olga Bobrovskaya (mezzo-soprano), Yulia Matochkina (mezzo-soprano), Elena Sommer (mezzo-soprano), Andrei Ilyushnikov (tenor), Artyom Melikhov (tenor), Yaroslav Petryanik (baritone), Alexander Gerasimov (bass baritone), Askar Abdrazakov (bass), Ilya Bannik (bass), Yuri Vorobiev (bass) and Pavel Shmulevich (bass). The programmes for both evenings will be conducted by Zaurbek Gugkaev.

On 2 August the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev will appear at the Tongyeong Concert Hall (South Korea).

The Mariinsky Theatre will then return to Vladivostok, where on 3 August there will be a performance at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Don Giovanni featuring Albina Shagimuratova, Mlada Khudoley, Yevgeny Nikitin and Mikhail Petrenko. On 4 and 5 August at the Primorsky Stage there will be a Rachmaninoff Cycle, including all of the composer's piano concerti featuring pianists from Russia, the USA, Canada, China and Great Britain. The grand gala programme to mark one hundred and thirty-five years since the birth of Igor Stravinsky on 6 August will see a performance by the Combined Mariinsky Orchestra (St Petersburg) and the Primorsky Stage (Vladivostok). Valery Gergiev will be conducting.

From 7 to 10 August the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will be appearing at the II China-Russia Festival of Culture and Arts in Harbin (China). On 7 August at the Harbin Grand Theatre Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will present a programme of works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Symphony No 5) and Max Bruch (Violin Concerto No 1). Daniel Lozakovich will be the soloist.

On 9 and 10 August at the Harbin Grand Theatre there will be a performance by the ballet company and symphony orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The production selected for the tour is the ballet Le Corsaire staged by Eldar Aliev, Principal Ballet Master of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, (featuring highlights of the choreography by Marius Petipa). The lead roles will be performed by: Irina Sapozhnikova and Arina Nagase (Medora), Kanat Hadyrbek and Oleksy Skalyun (Conrad), Anna Samostrelova (Gulnare) and Sergei Umanets (Lankendem).

At the same time, Valery Gergiev will be appearing with the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in cities throughout Japan. From 27 July to 1 August the orchestra under maestro Gergiev will present a programme of works by Franz Schubert, Richard Wagner and Max Bruch in Tomakomai, Sapporo, Kawasaki and Tokyo.