The Program of the International Mariinsky Far East Festival, Vladivostok, has been announced

24 July – 9 August 2019
Artistic Director Valery Gergiev

• Parade of opera and ballet stars: Albina Shagimuratova, Yulia Matochkina, Mikhail Vekua, Yuri Vorobyov, Alexey Markov, Najmiddin Mavlyanov, Yevgeny Nikitin, Sergey Skorokhodov, Vladislav Sulimsky, Stanislav Trofimov, Alexander Mikhailov, Angelina Akhmedova, Aygul Khismatullina, Victoria Tereshkina, Nadezhda Batoeva, Renata Shakirova, Kimin Kim, Vladimir Shklyarov, Yekaterina Osmolkina, Alexander Sergeev, Ekaterina Kondaurova;
• Outstanding conductors and distinguished instrumentalists: Valery Gergiev, Shizuo Kuwahara, Pavel Smelkov, Long Yu, Justus Frantz, Lucas Debargue, Kanon Matsuda (piano), Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici (violin);
• For the first time on the Primorsky Stage: Parsifal by Richard Wagner directed by Tony Palmer, Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti directed by Andrea De Rosa, The Enchantress by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (concert performance); The Bronze Horseman by Reinhold Gliere staged by Yuri Smekalov, Sylvia by Leo Delibes, choreography by Frederick Ashton;
• Performances of the China Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Long Yu in Vladivostok and Ussuriysk, the Mariinsky Theatre Stradivarius Ensemble in Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk;
• Concerts of Valery Gergiev with the Youth Orchestra of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo (Japan);
• Shortly before the Festival, the Mariinsky Ballet Company will go on tour to Taiwan together with the Symphony Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The International Mariinsky Far East Festival, Vladivostok will be held from July 24 to August 9, 2019 on the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The day before the forum, on July 23, a solo concert of Lucas Debargue, famous French pianist and XV International Tchaikovsky Competition laureate, will be held.

The International Mariinsky Far East Festival, Vladivostok will open with the Far Eastern premiere of Reinhold Gliere’s The Bronze Horseman staged by Yuri Smekalov (July 24 and 25). Created in 1949 by Rostislav Zakharov, this ballet gained a new stage version in spring 2016 as part of the Mariinsky International Ballet Festival. The choreography of Rostislav Zakharov was taught to the artists of the Mariinsky Theatre ballet company by older ballet dancers who participated in the performance during the Soviet times. Choreographer Yury Smekalov became the author of the new fragments of the performance. The main parts on July 24 and 25 will be danced by the winner of the Bolshoi Ballet project of the Rossia-Kultura TV channel (2016) Renata Shakirova, the lead actor of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Bavarian State Ballet Vladimir Shklyarov and the lead soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre Alexander Sergeev. On July 27 and 28, the Far Eastern premiere of Leo Delibes’ Sylvia in the choreography of Frederick Ashton will take place. The main parts of the neoclassical production will be performed by the star staff of the Mariinsky Ballet, both the artists already known to the audience and the new big names. On July 28, those will be Kimin Kim (Aminta) and Nadezhda Batoeva (Sylvia), on July 27 , Timur Askerov (Aminta) and Victoria Tereshkina (Sylvia). For the People’s Artist of Russia, Prima Ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre, Victoria Tereshkina, this will be the first visit to Vladivostok. The festival will also include two “meet-the-artist” events with the lead dancers of the Mariinsky Ballet, cult figures of the audiences around the world, Kimin Kim (July 26) and Vladimir Shklyarov (July 29). The artists will present one-act ballets, choreographic miniatures and the choreos that have become their “showpieces”. Kimin Kim’s evening program will also include the brilliant ballet premiere of the Mariinsky season 2018/19, Push Comes to Shove, staged by the legendary American choreographer Twyla Tharp.

The concert program of the IV International Mariinsky Far East Festival, Vladivostok will open on July 28 with the performance of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster, the famous violinist and conductor Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici and the Mariinsky Orchestra. The performances of the Mariinsky Theatre Stradivarius Ensemble under the baton of Lorenz Nasturica-Herschcowici have become good tradition of the festival. The Stradivari Ensemble features soloists of the Mariinsky Orchestra who play on unique ancient instruments created by the great craftsmen of the Cremona school. The concert will take place in Vladivostok on August 2.

The poster will be continued by the concert of a Japanese pianist, laureate of international competitions Kanon Matsuda with the joint orchestra of the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage conducted by Shizuo Kuwahara (July 30). The night will become another festive event in a series of concerts and performances dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, to which many projects of the Mariinsky Theatre and its Primorsky branch have been devoted this year. On August 4, the Mariinsky Orchestra will perform in the Great Hall of the Primorsky Stage under conduct of Valery Gergiev. Among the well-known international teams attending the festival there will be China Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of its artistic director and chief conductor Long Yu (August 6). In 2009, British music magazine The Gramophone included the band in the top ten “most inspiring orchestras of the world” along with Berlin and London philharmonic orchestras. In addition to the concert on the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, the Chinese team will also perform in Ussuriysk.

On August 8, the world-famous conductor Justus Frantz (Germany) will appear in a double role: as the conductor of the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage and as the soloist. Overture to Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell opera, Concert for piano and orchestra No. 21 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Symphony No. 7 by Ludwig van Beethoven will be performed.

The festival’s operatic poster includes Far Eastern premieres of operas Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti directed by Andrea De Rosa (July 31 and August 5), Parsifal by Richard Wagner directed by Tony Palmer (August 3) with Valery Gergiev at the conductor’s stand and concert performance of The Enchantress by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (August 4). Leading soloists of the Mariinsky Opera will appear in the main parts: Albina Shagimuratova, Yulia Matochkina, Anna Kiknadze, Mikhail Vekua, Yuri Vorobyov, Alexey Markov, Evgeny Nikitin, Sergey Skorokhodov, Vladislav Sulymsky, Stanislav Trofimov, Yevgeny Akimov, as well as young talented singers, grant-holders of the Atkins Young Artists Program.

Among the productions of the Primorsky Stage with the participation of leading soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre and its Primorsky Stage that can be watched at the festival, there will be The Tsar’s Bride by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov staged by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev (August 1), Tosca by Giacomo Puccini directed by Hans-Joachim Fray (August 7) and the premiere of the current season, Aida by Giuseppe Verdi directed by Alexey Stepanyuk (August 9).

Shortly before the festival, the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage will take part in the tours of the Mariinsky Ballet (St. Petersburg) on Taiwan (July 18 to 20). The program of the tour will include four shows of the fantastic Swan Lake ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with the participation of famous artists and rising stars. The main parts will be performed by Ekaterina Kondaurova, Nadezhda Batoeva, Renata Shakirova, Mei Nagahisa, Vladimir Shklyarov, Timur Askerov, Alexei Timofeev, Evgeny Konovalov.

During the festival, Valery Gergiev will also hold a series of concerts in Japan with the Youth Orchestra of the Sapporo Pacific Music Festival whose artistic director he is (July 31 to August 2).

Meanwhile, from July 23 to August 4, the ballet company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will tour the historic scene of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. The team will arrive in St. Petersburg for the fifth time and will present Giselle in choreography by Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa, The Prodigal Son in choreography by George Balanchine, The Firebird and” in choreography by Eldar Aliyev, chief choreographer of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The main parts will be performed by the leading soloists of the Primorsky ballet company: Anna Samostrelova, Irina Sapozhnikova, Kanat Nadyrbek, Sergey Umanets.