12 August 2016

The I Mariinsky International Far East Festival in Vladivostok has drawn to a close

Results of the I Mariinsky International Far East Festival in Vladivostok in figures:

• over 12 days there were 27 performances and concerts; 
• more than 300 participants – international stars from 12 countries; 
• 7 concert venues in Vladivostok and Ussuriysk as well as on the deck of the rocket cruiser Varyag; 
• more than 20, 000 visitors from Russia, China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the USA and Europe.

On 10 August the I Mariinsky International Far East Festival concluded with a grand concert by the Combined Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev with the participation of the internationally acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos and South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son.

The I Mariinsky International Far East Festival in Vladivostok at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre saw the first performances of the operasBetrothal in a Monastery by Sergei Prokofiev and Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. The operas, transferred from the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, featured internationally acclaimed performers - "the finest Cio-Cio-San in the world" Ana María Martínez (Puerto Rico) and soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre – People's Artists of Russia Larisa Diadkova, Sergei Aleksashkin and Yuri Laptev, Honoured Artist of Russia Yevgeny Akimov and prize-winner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition Yulia Matochkina among others. Yuri Temirkanov's production of the opera The Queen of Spadeswas performed by Mariinsky Theatre soloists Larisa Diadkova, Mikhail Vekua and Yulia Matochkina. The performances featured the Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra and soloists and the Chorus and Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The ballet playbill of the festival included the finest works of the Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers project – the one-act productions SeasonSby Ilya Zhivoi, Pavlovsk by Maxim Petrov and Choreographic Game 3x3 by Anton Pimonov. Highlights of the ballet playbill included performances by internationally acclaimed Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerinas Ulyana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva, Ekaterina Kondaurova and Oxana Skorik. Diana Vishneva and internationally acclaimed dancer Vladimir Malakhov presented the ballet Spartacus and I by Hans van Manen, as well as an artistic meeting and autograph session. Ulyana Lopatkina danced twice at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre – in Jerome Robbins' ballet In the Night and in the choreographic miniature Melody by Asaf Messerer. The ballerina was partnered by Mariinsky Ballet first soloist Andrei Yermakov. During the festival prima ballerina Ekaterina Kondaurova appeared in the ballets Carmen-Suite, Symphony in C, In the Night, SeasonS and Choreographic Game 3x3. Among others taking part in the I Mariinsky International Far East Festival were Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerina Oxana Skorik, Mariinsky Theatre principal dancers Danila Korsuntsev and Yevgeny Ivanchenko, first soloist of the Opéra de Paris Hannah O'Neill, up-and-coming South Korean star Soo Bin Lee and Mariinsky Ballet soloists Alexander Sergeyev, Xander Parish and Yekaterina Osmolkina among others. Also on stage with them were lead soloists of the Primorsky company Irina Sapozhnikova, Sergei Umanets and artists of the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The performances featured the Mariinsky Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The symphony music playbill of the I Mariinsky International Far East Festival featured the names of world stars as well as young performers who have already made a name for themselves: the young virtuoso pianists Alexander Malofeev, Shio Okui, Kanon Matsuda and Lao Xieng Thien, as well as Dmitry Masleev, Sergei Redkin, Seong-Jin Cho, Yeol Eum Son, Dasol Kim and Tae-Hyung Kim, violinists Leonidas Kavakos, Yu-Chien Tseng, Akiko Suwanai, Clara-Jumi Kang and Nigel Armstrong, cellists Seung Min Kang and Oleg Sendetsky and trumpeter Timur Martynov.

Performances by the fabled Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev took place at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre and on board the flagship cruiser Varyag of the Pacific Ocean Fleet. Also appearing at the festival with the ensemble were South Korean conductor Min Chung, Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre Pavel Smelkov and Principal Guest Conductor of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre Vladislav Karklin.

The festival's chamber music programme presented Russian audiences with rising star musicians from South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan. At the Small Hall of the Primorsky Stage there were appearances by prize-winning virtuosi of the I International Young Pianists' Grand Piano Competition Shio Okui and Lao Xieng Thien as well as Kanon Matsuda, Dasol Kim and Tae-Hyung Kim, prize-winners at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition violinist Yu-Chien Tseng and pianist Sergei Redkin. An evening of opera featured prize-winners of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar (Mongolia) and Yulia Matochkina (Russia) as well as South Korean soprano Sunhae Im.

Notable festival events included performances by the unique Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble, a concert by the Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre and soloists of the Mariinsky Opera at the close of the exchange of Children of the World at the All-Russian Ocean Children's Centre, as well as a concert by the Mariinsky Orchestra and soloists of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre at the Ussuriysk House of Officers of the Russian Army. Also taking part in the festival was the Orchestra of the Russian Pacific Ocean Fleet under conductors Major Andrei Popov and Captain Ilya Sergeyev.

The new 2016-17 season at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre opens on 13 August. The first performance of the season will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte (13 and 14 August) staged by Alain Maratrat, the premiere of which proved a great success in May 2016.

Also in August, there will be performances of the operas La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi (19 August), The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (21 August) and Carmen by Georges Bizet (27 August) and the ballets The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky (20 August), Giselle by Adolphe Adam (26 August) andSwan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (28 August).

The September playbill will bring audiences the Vladivostok premieres of the one-act ballets Bambi and In the Jungle after motifs of the novels by Felix Salten staged by Anton Pimonov set to music by Andrei Golovin and Alexander Lokshin (24 and 25 September). There will also be a new project – from 18 to 22 September at the Great Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre there will be a Beethoven Marathon. One of the most dazzling representatives of the Russian piano school Alexei Volodin accompanied by the Primorsky Stage Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre under the baton of Pavel Smelkov will perform every piano concerto by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Elena Stikhina, prize-winner at the XXIV Interenational Operalia Competiion, will be appearing in operas; the singer will perform as Lisa and Tatiana in Pyotr Tchaikovsky's operas The Queen of Spades (1 September) and Eugene Onegin (4 September), as well as in the role of Violetta Valéry in Giuseppe Verdi's opera La traviata (8 September).

One key event of the ballet playbill will be the appearance of rising star from South Korea Soo Bin Lee in Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle (9 September).

Moreover, the September playbill also includes the operas Tosca by Giacomo Puccini (11 September), The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev (15 September) and Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (29 September) and the ballets Le Corsaire by Adolphe Adam (2 September), The Firebirdby Igor Stravinsky (17 September) and The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (30 September).

Submitted on 24 August 2016, Wednesday

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27 May 2016

Valery Gergiev has announced the programme of the I International Mariinsky Far East Festival in Vladivostok (30 July – 10 August)

• 12 days, 25 operas, ballets, and concerts; 
• The most renowned soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre, as well as leading soloists from Asia, Europe, and North and South America; laureates of the International Tchaikovsky Competition from various years; laureates of the I International Grand Piano Competition; 
• Venues include the Great Hall and Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, as well as the Primorsky Regional Philharmonic, Ocean All-Russian Children’s Centre, The House of Officers of the Pacific Fleet, and the deck of the cruiser Varyag; 
• The festival is dedicated to the 125th birthday of Sergei Prokofiev and opens with the Vladivostok premiere of the opera Betrothal in a Monastery. The opera features leading soloists, the orchestra, and choir of the Mariinsky Theatre, all under the baton of Valery Gergiev.

From June 30 to August 10, the I International Mariinsky Far East Festival will take place at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in Vladivostok, Russia. The festival will feature the most brilliant soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre as well as leading guest artists from Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Mongolia, Germany, Greece, The United Kingdom, The United States, and Puerto Rico.

On July 29, there will be a special concert as a preview of the festival: laureates of the I International Grand Piano Competition will make their debut in Vladivostok under the baton of Valery Gergiev, who will be conducting the Mariinsky Orchestra. Laureates include Grand-prix winner, 14-year-old Alexander Malofeev (Russia), 11-year-old Shio Okui (Japan), and 12-year-old Tinghong Liao (China). Also joining the Mariinsky Orchestra will be 20-year-old Kanon Matsuda (Japan), a student of Moscow State Conservatory.

The initiator and artistic director of the festival, Valery Gergiev, called this new musical forum a brother of the St Petersburg music festival Stars of the White Nights. He highlighted the fact that this will become an annual festival and will be a special way of uniting artists as well as fans of classical music from all around the Pacific Rim. Gergiev commented, First and foremost, artists from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and China have been invited to Vladivostok. The Pacific Rim is the most important region for the entire world and it’s imperative that we find a way to create a real and interesting partnership in the cultural sphere between Russia, Japan, Korea, China, the US, Canada, and with other countries in the Pacific Rim.

The festival will open on July 30 with the Vladivostok premiere of Prokofiev’s opera, Betrothal in a Monastery, featuring a golden cast of soloists from the Mariinsky Theatre, including the following: Larisa Diadkova, Evgeny Akimov, Sergei Aleksashkin, Yulia Matochkina, Evgeny Akhmedov, ViolettaLukyanenko, Roman Burdenko, Yulia Lapteva, Andrei Popov, as well as soloists of the Primorsky Stage. This opera also includes conductor Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra.

On August 2 and 5, the Primorsky Stage will host the Vladivostok premiere of one of Puccini’s masterpieces, the opera Madame Butterfly. Starring in the role of Cio-cio-san will be world-famous Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez, and joining her will be Korean conductor Min Chung and the Mariinsky Orchestra. On August 7, Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades makes an appearance at the festival in a production by Yuri Temirkanov featuring guest artist Irina Churilova (Bolshoi Theatre) in the role of Liza. Joining her in the performance will be leading soloists of the MariinskyTheatre, including Mikhail Vekua (German), Larisa Diadkova (The Countess), and Yulia Matochkina (Polina), and conductor Pavel Smelkov. All three opera productions were brought from the historical stage of the Mariinsky Theatre to Vladivostok. 
Concerts during the festival will take place not only in the GreatHall and Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage, but also in the Primorsky Regional Philharmonic, The House of Officers of the Pacific Fleet, at Ocean All-Russian Children’s Centre, and on deck of the cruiser Varyag, the ship that was stationed off the coast of Syria.

On July 31, the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev will perform three times: first at 3:00 pm on the deck of ocean cruiser Varyag(the performance will be broadcast live to the central square of Vladivostok), and at 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm in the Great Hall of the Primorsky Stage. These concerts will feature 22-year-old virtuoso pianist from South Korea, Seong-Jin Cho, laureate of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition, as well as Japanese violin virtuoso Akiko Suwanai, laureate of the IX International Tchaikovsky Competition.

On August 1, there will be a unique concert conducted by Pavel Smelkov of a combined symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Primorsky Stage playing works of Sergei Prokofiev. This concert features two soloists, both laureates of XV International Tchaikovsky Competition: German violinist Clara-Jumi Kang, who will perform Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, as well as Russian pianist Sergei Redkin, who will perform Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3.

On the next day, the Primorsky Stage Orchestra will give a special concert for young audiences at Ocean All-Russian Children's Centre. This concert includes opera soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre Sergei Aleksashkin, Roman Burdenko, and Evgeny Akimov. On August 4, the Primorksy Stage Orchestra will deliver another concert, this time in the Primorsky Regional Philharmonic with Korean cello soloist Seungmin Kang, laureate of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition.

For the closing concert on August 10, Valery Gergiev will conduct a combined orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Primorsky Stage. The soloists will be pianist Yeoleum Son and one of the greatest violinists of our time, Greek virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos. 
In the Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage, the playbill willcontinue to acquaint Vladivostok audiences with young talents. On August 1, there will be a recital of laureates of the I International Grand Piano Competition: Grand Prix winner 14-year-old Alexander Malofeev (Russia), 11-year-old Shio Okui (Japan), 12-year-old Tinghong Liao (China), and also the 20-year-old Japanese student of Moscow Conservatory, Kanon Matsuda. On August 3, laureate of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition Taiwanese violinist Yu-Chien Tseng will present a solo recital. On August 8, two rising stars of the Korean piano scene, Tae-Hyung Kim and Dasol Kim will present a shared recital. On August 9, the final chamber concert will feature young international opera stars: laureates of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition Mongolian baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar and Russian mezzo-soprano Yulia Matochkina, as well as Korean soprano Sunhae Im.

The festival also includes two performances of the MariinskyStradivarius Ensemble, a group of musicians that performs on some of the world’s most unique-sounding, historical, string instruments, all made by masters of the Cremonese school. First, the ensemble will play a charitable concert on August 6 for veterans of the Pacific Fleet, featuring Russian piano soloist and laureate of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition Dmitry Masleev. On August 7, American violinist and laureate of the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition, Nigel Armstrong, joins the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble and will also perform the solo John Corigliano composition Stomp, which was commissioned for the Tchaikovsky Competition and for which Armstrong won a special prize. In addition to these concerts, the Orchestra of the Pacific Fleet will present two free concerts: the first in The House of Officers of the Pacific Fleet on August 6, and the second on the Summer Terrace of the Primorsky Stage on August 10.

The ballet performances of the festival include the MariinskyTheatre’s star dancers, as well as leading guest artists from France, The United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea. On August 3 and 4, there will be two evenings of one-act ballets featuring one of the major works of the 20th century, Balanchine’sSymphony in C, as well as Alberto Alonso’s Carmen Suite, Jerome Robbins’ In the Night, and Hans van Manen’s The Old Man and Me. These ballets feature world-renowned prima ballerinas of the Mariinsky Theatre Diana Vishneva, Uliana Lopatkina, Ekaterina Kondaurova, and Oksana Skorik. Other soloists and principal dancers of the Mariinskyjoin them in these performances, including the following: Ekaterina Osmolkina, Andrei Ermakov, Konstantin Zverev, Evgeny Ivanchenko, Kimin Kim, Danila Korsuntsev, Alexander Sergeev, and also world-famous dancer and choreographer Vladimir Malakhov. Leading soloists of the Primorsky Stage will also grace the festival in Eldar Aliev’s original work, Inspiration, featuring laureate of the International Ballet Competition in Jackson (USA) Irina Sapozhnikova as well as Sergei Umanets.

On August 6, Hannah O’Neil, first soloist of the Paris Opera Ballet and winner of the 2016 Benois de la Danse prize for best female dancer, will star as the title role in Giselle. Her partner will be first soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre, British dancer Xander Parish. Making her debut in the role of Myrtha will be prima ballerina of the Primorsky Stage, Irina Sapozhnikova. On August 9, principal dancer of the Mariinsky Theatre and winner of the 2016 Benois de la Danse prize for best male dancer, Kimin Kim (Korea), will star in Swan Lake.

A particularly special event during the festival will be an evening called, The Future of Dance which will showcase the newest generation of dancers and choreographers of the Mariinsky Theatre. The first half includes works from the Mariinsky’s Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers, including Pavlosk(Maxim Petrov), SeasonS (Ilya Zhivoi), and Choreographic Game 3x3 (Anton Pimonov). The second half will feature young laureates of international ballet competitions as well as soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre performing variations from the greatest modern and classical ballets. During this performance, Vladivostok audiences will also see ballerina Soo Bin Lee, the so-called Korean phenomenon, dance for the first time on the Primorsky Stage.

Submitted on 25 August 2016, Thursday

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