The Foundation - News

February-June 2010
Subscription: Rodion Shchedrin at the Mariinsky Theatre

In February 2010 Mariinsky Theatre has established a special project - the subscription “Rodion Shchedrin at the Mariinsky Theatre”. “It is an honor and a real enjoyment for us to offer the audience such a great subscription of works of our contemporary, whose creative activity continues with the long tradition of the Russian composer school”, said Valery Gergiev in an interview with the Russian newspaper “Trud” on January the 22nd.

The subscription, which includes six concerts, started on February 5, 2010 with the opera “Dead Souls” and with the baritone Sergei Leiferkus in the role of Chichikov. It was a concert performance, which after a long period of time was already given in the last year with great success. According to Gergiev the stage performance of the opera is already planned in near future.

On March the 13th, in the second performance of the subscription, the ballet “The Little Humpbacked Horse” was on stage in the choreography of Alexei Ratmansky. The premiere of this production was in March 2009 in the Mariinsky Theatre and was an important cultural event of the year.

“The Enchanted Wanderer”, which was nominated for the “Golden Mask 2009” different times and awarded as “Best compositional work for opera”, was staged on March the 23rd with a top-class cast. On the top stood the soprano Kristina Kapustinskaya, winner of the same award in the category “Opera/Best female actress” for the role of the Gypsy Gruscha.

Two of the three forthcoming performances of the subscription are ballets. The ballet “Carmen Suite” will be performed beforehand for the first time in the Mariinsky Theatre – and the second ballet “Anna Karenina” for the first time at all in St Petersburg - at the X International Ballet Festival “Mariinsky”.
The one act ballet “Carmen Suite” will be staged on April 29, in the famous choreography of Alberto Alonso. Many years back this ballet was shown in St Petersburg for the first time with Maya Plisetskaya as Carmen during a tour on the stage of the October Concert Hall. On May the 1st, is the ballet “Anna Karenina” on the program. In the production of Ratmansky this work is currently one of the hottest ballet performances worldwide.

The last performance of the subscription will be on June 26, in the Concert Hall on the Dekabristov Street with two instrumental concerts: the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra “Sotto voce concerto” with David Geringas as soloist and the Piano Concerto No 4 with pianist Anika Vavich.

“It is a great privilege for me having a subscription of my music works during my lifetime. The renowned and currently best theater in Russia - I even would like to say – in the world - gives its attention to my music. And the head of the theatre, Gergiev, is a giant in the music world. All that is for me as composer an indescribable pleasure! I do not exaggerate when I am telling, but it is really true – it is a great joy and honor for me”, said Rodion Shchedrin in the interview for Radio “Orfei”.