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In April, the Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre is going to present masterpieces and rare chamber music gems. In addition to its own concerts, the Theatre will treat its audience to a series of outstanding performances by guest artists.

On April 6, 2024, Borodin Quartet will perform in the Chamber Hall. Borodin Quartet is a unique ensemble that has been continuing its artistic efforts for more than 75 years and has earned a reputation as one of the top musical quartets of the world. The Quartet’s biography includes about 7,000 concerts in Russia, countries of Europe, Asia, America, Australia and New Zealand. To Vladivostok audiences, the musicians are going to present Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 7 and Alexander Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2.

On April 7, 2024, the musical fairy tale Ruslan and Lyudmila will be performed. The Theatre’s company will present their interpretation of Mikhail Glinka’s fantasy opera, where heroic deeds, exciting adventures and true love will be embodied in mesmerizing sand illustrations. The author of literary composition and musical edition is the Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage Pavel Smelkov. 

On April 13, 2024, talented students of the branch of the Central Music School, the Primorsky Academy of Performing Arts, will perform together with the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage. The concert program will embrace famous masterpieces by Russian and foreign composers: Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Franz Strauss.

On April 20, 2024, the Chamber Hall will hold the Chamber music evening with the participation of the famous violinist from St Petersburg, People’s Artist of Russia Lev Klychkov. At the age of 22, the musician was invited to join the first violin group of the honored Russian ensemble, the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, and since 1998 he has been the First Violin of the Orchestra. The violinist’s current repertoire is quite extensive; it includes musical pieces by Bach and Stravinsky along with the works by contemporary composers. Masterpieces from different countries and of different styles will be performed at the chamber music concert in Vladivostok. There will be vibrant national genre sketches, virtuoso pieces and samples of the classical chamber repertoire.

On April 27, 2024, the series of April events at the Chamber Hall will be ended with the Evening of French chamber music, sophisticated and refined like France itself. The beautiful songs and instrumental sonatas by Francis Poulenc and the music by César Franck performed by the soloist of the opera company Anastasia Kikot and soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage will give a romantic and lucid spring mood to the audience.

During the whole month, the audience will also be able to enjoy operas for the whole family: The Turnip by Rustam Sagdiev (April 7, 2024), The Little Prince by Leonid Klinichev (April 13, 2024), Murych the Cat by Sergei Banevich (April 20, 2024), and Town Musicians of Bremen by Gennady Gladkov (April 29, 2024).

The rising opera star Zinaida Tsarenko, winner of the two highest awards at the XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition, is going to take part in two performances of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in April.

The singer will perform one of the leading female parts in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tsar’s Bride on April 10, 2024. Also, she will give a stage embodiment to one of the main characters, Princess Eboli, in Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo on April 14, 2024.

Zinaida Tsarenko is a native of Khabarovsk; she spent her youth in the settlement of Terney, Primorsky Region. In 2022, she took part in a Mariinsky Theatre opera performance for the first time, having flawlessly performed the part of Olga in Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (chamber version). That was also when she made her debut on the New Stage of the Theatre, singing the part of Lyubasha (The Tsar’s Bride). The most notable award the young singer has won at the moment is the Grand Prix of the XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition. After her triumphant victory, Zinaida Tsarenko took part in the tour of the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev in Beijing, at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, in Tashkent, and in Vladivostok. The singer’s repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes the parts of Fenena (Nabucco), Emilia (Verdi’s Otello), Joan of Arc (The Maid of Orleans).

In April, the singer will grace The Tsar’s Bride by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Don Carlo by Giuseppe Verdi. “Zinaida Tsarenko’s debut as the seductive Princess Eboli has become one of the undoubted successes of the St Petersburg production. The singer’s charismatic acting and confessional interpretation of the image, together with her rich voice timbre, have attracted the attention of the public”, says The Musical Klondike online publication about the singer’s first performance.

The main opera premiere of this spring, a production of Iolanta by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, will open the April playbill of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. Inspired by a lyrical play about a blind princess, the composer filled his last opera with a whole polyphony of meanings. The Stage Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Anna Shishkina went further and placed not only Iolanta, but also her loving father at the center of the plot. The author of the sets, Chief Designer of the Primorsky Stage, Pyotr Okunev, developed original costumes based on the works by William Morris, which are completely different from those of the St Petersburg production. Premiere performances of the opera will take place on April 5, 6 (at 14:00 and 19:00) and April 19, 2024.

The two performances of the guest soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre Zinaida Tsarenko (mezzo-soprano) will become notable events on the playbill. A bright singer, a native of Khabarovsk and Grand Prix winner at the XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition will perform one of the main female parts in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tsar’s Bride on April 10, 2024, and will also give a stage embodiment to one of the main characters, Princess Eboli, in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Don Carlo on April 14, 2024.

The opera repertoire of the Primorsky Stage in April also includes The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev (April 12, 2024), La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi (April 26, 2024), The Snow Maiden by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (April 28, 2024) and Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II (April 30, 2024 at 14:00 and 19:00). 

On April 21, 2024, a large concert dedicated to the 180^th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov will take place. The concert will encompass the composer’s works of different form and mood. The guest soloist of the evening is Honored Artist of Russia, first violin of the legendary St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra Lev Klychkov. The day before, on April 20, 2024, the violinist will also present Chamber music evening in the Chamber Hall of the Theatre.

The chamber playbill is going to amaze the audience with the variety of concert programs throughout the month. On April 6, 2024, Borodin Quartet, a world-famous string ensemble that has existed for more than 75 years, will perform in the Chamber Hall. On April 7, 2024, the musical fairy tale Ruslan and Lyudmila will be performed there. The music by Mikhail Glinka will be complemented by live scenery in the form of sand animation. On April 13, 2024, talented students of the branch of the Central Music School, the Primorsky Academy of Performing Arts, will perform classical music masterpieces accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage. The series of events in the Chamber Hall will be ended with the sophisticated Evening of French chamber music on April 27, 2024. 

Following a triumphant tour in the capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pyongyang, the Ballet Company of the Theatre will present the best performances of the classical heritage and its own striking productions on its home stage. Fikret Amirov’s spectacular ballet A Thousand and One Nights will make its comeback to the playbill after a long break on April 13, 2024 (at 15:00 and 19:00). This ballet was last performed in Vladivostok last May. The ballet repertoire will also be graced by Le Corsaire (April 7, 2024) and Giselle (April 20, 2024) by Adolphe Adam, Swan Lake (April 11, 2024) by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Don Quixote (April 17 and 18, 2024) and La Bayadère (April 25, 2024) by Ludwig Minkus, Konyok-Gorbunok (The Little Humpbacked Horse) by Rodion Shchedrin (April 27, 2024) and Raymonda by Alexander Glazunov (April 29, 2024).

The youngest audience will be able to enjoy nice and colorful performances about friendship, love and good deeds: The Turnip by Rustam Sagdiev (April 7, 2024), The Little Prince by Leonid Klinichev (April 13, 2024), Murych the Cat by Sergei Banevich (April 20, 2024), and Town Musicians of Bremen by Gennady Gladkov (April 29, 2024 at 12:00 and 14:00).

On April 5, 6 (at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.) and April 19, 2024, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will host the premiere of a new production of the opera Iolanta by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, directed by Anna Shishkina, with set and costume design by Pyotr Okunev.

“Iolanta is one of the top ten globally famous Russian operas, an absolutely amazing work! The pinnacle of the composer’s skill, this opera was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky a year before his death and became the brilliant result of all his operatic creativity. An interesting (and perhaps not generally known) fact is that the composer started writing Iolanta from the end, that is, from the last scene, the one that is the brightest and the most solemn, the one praising light, wisdom, love, faith and devotion. Tchaikovsky composed it under a strong impression of the play Kong Renés Datter (King René’s Daughter) by the Danish poet Henrik Hertz, which he had seen at the Moscow Maly Theatre. Indeed, until the moment when Pyotr Ilyich saw the play, the composer’s operas had been mainly dramatic in their content, without a breakthrough to the light in the final chords. Iolanta is quite different. It is permeated with joy and hope, and that’s why this music is so graceful, such a great pleasure to listen to. And, unfortunately for us, but perhaps fortunately for some restless listeners, the opera is also one of the most “compact” (if such a word is applicable to opera) in the composer’s heritage”, comments Irina Soboleva, Artistic Director of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The Stage Director of the Mariinsky Theatre Anna Shishkina and the Chief Designer of the Primorsky Stage Pyotr Okunev based on the original concept of Henrik Hertz when they started working on the performance. The action is based on a poetic story about the blind princess who is healed by true love and receives her sight. However, the plot is centered not only on Iolanta, but also on her loving father. 

“I have always felt that blindness is not her problem, but rather her father’s tragedy. After taking a closer look at the Hertz’s drama, I realized that it was important to bring King René’s pain to the fore. This is his tragedy, his blindness, his distrust of life. He wants to hide life itself in the dark world. I want the soloists who perform the part of King René not to hide behind his position, but to create a tragic image”, Anna Shishkina said about the concept of the performance.

The parts for the premiere performances are being rehearsed by: Anna Barkhatova, Alena Diyanova, Liliya Kadnikova, Alina Mikhailik as Iolanta; Alexei Kostyuk, Roman Krukovich, Mingiyan Odzhaev, Alexei Smirnov as Vaudémont; César Méndez, Dmitry Migulyov, Alexei Repin as Robert; Sergei Pleshivtsev, Yevgeny Plekhanov as King René; Sergey Krylov, Marat Mukhametzyanov, Dmitry Nelasov, Nikita Odalin as Ibn-Hakia. The Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, Pavel Smelkov, will take the baton of the Orchestra on the premiere days.

Due to an increase in the membership of the Opera Company, the Primorsky Stage announces a contest to fill vacancies of soloists including mezzo-sopranos, tenors, basses.

CONTEST TERMS
Please, send to glushenko@mariinsky.ru:
– your CV that specifies your education, scenic experience (if any) and repertoire;
– your photo; and
– links to audio/video records of your concerts or performances.

You should submit your application on or before April 15, 2024. No application submitted after the above date will be accepted. Please, contact Elena Aleksandrovna GLUSHENKO, Director of the Opera Company, for details by +7 914 730 7941 with Vladivostok time taken into account.

According to results of consideration of your CVs and records some applicants will be called for a voice trial in Saint Petersburg. All trial expenses (including travel, accommodation, etc.) should be paid by applicants.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Primorsky Stage does not comment a decision taken upon consideration of any application. 

CONTEST PROCEDURE
The voice trials are expected to be held in St Petersburg on April 23 and April 24, 2024. The exact place and time will be announced additionally. 

Any applicant should choose two arias from the following list:

Mezzo-soprano:        
Aria of Ratmir from Ruslan and Lyudmila by M. Glinka
Arioso of Lyubasha from The Tsar’s Bride by N. Rimsky-Korsakov (Act I)
Aria of Eboli from Don Carlo by G. Verdi
Romance of Polina from The Queen of Spades by P. Tchaikovsky

Tenor:                        
Thunder scene from The Queen of Spades by P. Tchaikovsky
Romance of Radamès from Aida by G. Verdi
Aria of Calaf from Turandot by G. Puccini
Song of the Duke from Rigoletto by G. Verdi

Bass:                          
Aria of Ruslan from Ruslan and Lyudmila by M. Glinka
Aria of Filippo from Don Carlo by G. Verdi
Dungeon scene (“Three treasures”) from Mazepa by P. Tchaikovsky
Aria of Prince Gremin from Eugene Onegin by P. Tchaikovsky 

The Theatre will render an accompanist’s services free of charge.

From March 20 to 24, 2024, the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will tour in Pyongyang. The tour is organized by the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture ROSCONCERT in accordance with the All-Russian Tour and Concert Plan of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The series of performances is timed to the 75^th anniversary of the signing of the Economic Cooperation Agreement between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. All the performances will be held on the stage of the Mansudae Art Theatre.

The tour program includes Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty and Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Furthermore, the evening of ancient and modern choreography will take place. The tour of the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will first be made in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The coming performances will contribute greatly to the promotion of friendship between the two nations and the development of cultural cooperation between the two countries. 

On March 20 and 21, 2024, the tour will open with The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The enchanting ballet-féerie will be presented to the public in its staging by Konstantin Sergeev and Eldar Aliev with major set pieces of Marius Petipa’s classical choreography retained. The visual solution has been made by Vyacheslav Okunev, People’s Artist of Russia, so that the ballet performance could impress the audiences with its vast scale and luxurious surroundings.

On March 23 and 24, 2024, the audience will be able to enjoy Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird and the evening of ancient and modern choreography. The Firebird is a brilliant example of contemporary ballet choreographed by Eldar Aliev. Having revised the libretto, the ballet master combined some popular fairy plots and choreographed his neoclassic ballet. The colorful sets and costumes have been designed by Semyon Pastukh and Galina Solovieva. In Act II of the evening, the exemplary pieces from Raymonda and Satanella, Michel Fokine’s legendary solo dance The Swan and the choreographic piece Inspiration by Eldar Aliev will be presented to the public.

The tour is organized by the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture ROSCONCERT in accordance with the All-Russian Tour and Concert Plan of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

From March 21 to 24, 2024, the St Petersburg State Academic Leonid Yakobson Ballet Theatre is to present its ballet programs “Brilliant Divertissement” and “Cheeky Chastushki. Rodin. 598 Beats” at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Andrian Fadeev, Artistic Director of the Leonid Yakobson Ballet Theatre:

“The performances, which we will present in Vladivostok, make an unbreakable bond between the choreographic heritage of the 20^th and the 21^st centuries. This year the founder of our Theatre, the 20^th century great choreographer Leonid Yakobson would be 120 years of age, but his artistic imaginative thinking remains absolutely modern. The ballets Cheeky Chastushki and 598 Beats were staged just recently. The choreographer of the ballets, Vyacheslav Samodurov, noted the intrinsic relation, which arose as if by itself between his dances and his great predecessor’s choreographic pieces.

A similar relation arises between the cities which take part in the “Great Tour” thanks to the All-Russian Tour and Concert Plan of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. I think that this project is a generous gift, which destroys the persistent myth of exclusive “elitism” or “metropolitan nature” of ballet.

Vladivostok offers greater opportunities from year to year. It is good to know that it is largely due to the fact that St Petersburg and the Mariinsky Theatre have contributed markedly and carry on contributing to the development of a high theatrical culture in the Primorsky Region.”

The tour will open with the program “Brilliant Divertissement” on March 21, 2024. The public will be able to enjoy the cult series of miniatures, Classicism-Romanticism, and the one-act ballets The Wedding Cortège to the music by Dmitri Shostakovich, and The Brilliant Divertissement to the music by Mikhail Glinka.

On March 23 and 24, 2024, the company will present the premiere of Vyacheslav Samodurov’s new ballet 598 Beats, his one-act choreographic piece Cheeky Chastushki, which won the Golden Soffit in the Best Ballet Category in the 2022/23 season, and Leonid Yakobson’s cycle of choreographic miniatures Rodin, considered as one of the most perfect and original choreographic pieces of the 20^th century.

The “Great Tour” is being implemented by the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture ROSCONCERT in accordance with the All-Russian Tour and Concert Plan of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre has prepared an eventful program on the occasion of International Women’s Day. 

The playbill for the festive days is rich in works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in the year of the 180^th anniversary of the composer. On March 6, 2024, The Tsar’s Bride, one of the most popular and beautiful Russian classical operas, will be performed. The truly royal weekend will continue on March 10, 2024 when the audience will be able to enjoy The Tale of Tsar Saltan. The fairy opera is ideally suitable both for young and sophisticated theatergoers.

On March 8, 2024, The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev will be presented to female admirers of opera. This Primorsky Stage recent premiere is notable for its brilliant scenography, abundance of stage tricks and comic plot twists. The opera will create and extend the holiday feeling for a few days to come.

The ballet playbill promises the magic of Indian nights and oriental exotic atmosphere in La Bayadère by Ludwig Minkus on March 9, 2024. The ballet will tell the story of love between the dancer Nikia and the noble warrior Solor, who face a difficult choice: either to follow their hearts’ call, or to listen to the voice of reason to please the earthly laws and strict rules.

On March 7, 2024, the festive concert “Flowers and jewelry” will be given in the Chamber Hall. The pearls of instrumental pieces and vocal compositions carefully selected for International Women’s Day will be performed by opera soloists and members of the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage. On March 9, 2024, the fluffy hero of Sergei Banevich’s opera Murych the Cat will celebrate his own holiday in the Chamber Hall.

On March 7, 2024, the most curious guests who enjoy learning more about the Theatre’s off-stage life will be able to take part in an exciting tour. They will hear a story about the Primorsky Stage’s history and walk through the most hidden parts of the unique theatre complex.

On April 5, 6 and 19, 2024, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will present its premiere production of the lightest of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s operas, Iolanta.

Iolanta is the composer’s last opera. It is rightfully included in the list of the most popular Russian chamber operas. Tchaikovsky was once looking for a subject for a short lyrical performance and paid attention to the one-act play Kong Renés Datter (King René’s Daughter) by the Danish poet Henrik Hertz. According to the plot the congenitally blind princess Iolanthe does not understand that she is blind because King René has ordered that no word be said about eyesight or light in his palace. However, Iolanthe’s love, readiness to sacrifice herself and passionate desire to see the light can cure her.

Inspired by that touching story, Pyotr Tchaikovsky asked his brother Modest Tchaikovsky to write the libretto. “The plot of Iolanta enchanted me with its poetry, its freshness and a wealth of lyrical moments. I immediately promised myself that I should someday set it to music,” the composer remembered. He was hard at work on the opera from July till December 1891. On December 6, 1892, the world premiere of Iolanta took place together with the composer’s ballet The Nutcracker at the Mariinsky Theatre. 

The new staging is being prepared by Anna Shishkina, Stage Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, and Pyotr Okunev, Chief Designer of the Primorsky Stage. The roles will be performed by soloists of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The baton on the premiere days will be held by Pavel Smelkov, Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage.

In late March, the Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will present unique chamber evenings, each of them comprising a brilliant music piece, a fascinating story and sand animation.

On March 22, 2024, the audience will enjoy the famous group of four violin concerti by Antonio Vivaldi, Le quattro stagioni, in the format of a theatrical concert. When working on the composition, Vivaldi sought to combine poetry and instrumental music. Following the path envisaged by the composer, the Primorsky Stage company has gone even further. “In our performance of this immortal group of concerti, we have decided not only to voice poetic texts, but also to add graphic and dramatic components in the form of sand animation and four monologues pronounced on behalf of Vivaldi himself; closely echoing the four concerti, these monologues tell about the four stages of the composer’s life, that is, Childhood, Youth, Maturity and Old Age”, comments the Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage and screenwriter Pavel Smelkov.

The concert will be held with the participation of the Chamber Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. Soloists: Pavel Batyan (violin), Elizaveta Sushchenko (cello), Pavel Smelkov (harpsichord). The soloist of the Primorsky Stage Opera Company, Dmitry Nelasov, will appear as Vivaldi.

On March 23 and 24, 2024, the audience will enjoy the recent premiere, the musical performance Ruslan and Lyudmila. Mikhail Glinka’s music will be interspersed with the declamation of the chosen fragments from the poem. The performance will be accompanied by sand animation, allowing the audience to plunge into the fairy tale world of images of the magnificent “Russian fantasy”, which has emerged from the pens of two geniuses of Russian culture. “Mikhail Glinka’s fantasy romantic opera Ruslan and Lyudmila is very special for me. Pushkin’s poem was the first serious book that I read on my own at an early age, and Glinka’s masterpiece was one of the first operas I saw at the Mariinsky Theatre (then the Kirov Theatre). For the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, I have created an original literary and musical composition, which, based on Glinka’s amazing music, returns Ruslan and Lyudmila to the original Pushkin’s plot. At the same time, several numbers have been removed, and some of the music has been “handed back” to Ruslan. Also, several important plot lines have been brought back, such as the murder and miraculous revival of the main character”, notes Pavel Smelkov.

The main parts in the upcoming performances will be performed by soloists of the Primorsky Stage Opera Company. Reader: Dmitry Nelasov. 

The author of the sand animation at both concerts is artist Maksim Shteinberg.