A day of Shchedrin at the Mariinsky: from St Petersburg to Vladivostok

Today, Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin's birthday, is dedicating performances and concerts to him at its venues in St Petersburg and Vladivostok, as well as initiating а series of performances at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow). Today in St Petersburg at the Mariinsky II there will be a performance of Rodion Shchedrin's ballet The Little Humpbacked Horse with choreography by Alexei Ratmansky (20.00). The lead roles will be performed by Alexei Timofeyev (Ivan the Fool), Renata Shakirova (the Tsar-Maiden), David Zaleyev (the Little Humpbacked Horse) and Igor Kolb (Gentleman of the Bedchamber). The ballet will also be performed on 17 December.

Also marking Rodion Shchedrin's birthday are other Mariinsky Theatre performances: the operas A Christmas Tale (23 and 31 December and 2 and 7 January, Mariinsky II) and The Lefthander (28 December and 30 January, Mariinsky II) staged by Alexei Stepanyuk; and the ballets Carmen-Suite (21 December, Mariinsky II) and Anna Karenina (30 December at 14.00 and 19.30, Mariinsky II). One particular accent of the grandiose programme will be the concert In Honour of Rodion Shchedrin's Jubilee as part of the International Piano Festival. On 24 December at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre the pianists Denis Matsuev, Alexei Volodin and Sergei Redkin and cellist Alexander Ramm will appear with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev. The programme includes: Piano Concerto No 1, Romantic Offering (double concerto for cello, piano and orchestra), Piano Concerto No 4 (Sharp Keys) and Piano Concerto No 2.

At the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre (Vladivostok), Rodion Shchedrin's eighty-fifth birthday will be commemorated by a premiere. On the composer's birthday, the Great Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will present the first stage version of the Russian choral opera Boyarina Morozova (19.00). The production has been arranged by the Krasnoyarsk choral ensemble We Sing to Thee directed by Konstantin Yakobson, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, who that evening will be conducting the Symphony Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

There will be special events to mark Rodion Shchedrin's birthday in Moscow, where the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev will be performing three times at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall between 16 and 22 December, presenting a varied programme of the composer's works.

On 16 December (19.00) the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev will perform Georges Bizet – Rodion Shchedrin's Carmen-Suite, Orchestral Concerto No 1 Naughty Limericks and highlights from the opera-féerie A Christmas Tale, which was commissioned by and dedicated to Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre. The concert will feature Mariinsky Theatre soloists, the Mariinsky Chorus and the State Academic Sveshnikov Russian Chorus (Artistic Director – Yevgeny Volkov).

The programme includes a concert with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra on 21 December (19.00) there will be a performance of Symphonic Diptych, Concerto cantabile for violin and strings (soloist – Olga Volkova), Romantic Offering (double concerto for cello, piano and orchestra, soloists – Alexander Ramm (cello) and Sergei Redkin (piano)), the oratorio for soloists, mixed chorus and orchestra to the folk text Lenin in the Heart of the People featuring Mariinsky Theatre soloists Pelageya Kurennaya (soprano) and Andrei Serov (bass). Voice of the People – Natalia Boriskova.

On 22 December (19.00) the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall will be hosting the first performance of the opera Not Love Alone by Rodion Shchedrin staged by Alexander Kuzin. The vocal roles are to be performed by soloists and the ensemble of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers directed by Larisa Gergieva. Valery Gergiev will be conducting the Mariinsky Orchestra.

In 2017 the Mariinsky Theatre is widely commemorating Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin's eighty-fifth birthday. His anniversary has been marked by Mariinsky Theatre concerts and performances in St Petersburg, Vladivostok and Vladikavkaz. Cities participating in special events for the composer's birthday in December include Moscow, Tula, St Petersburg, Vladivostok and Munich.