Concert of the Mariinsky Orchestra. April 9, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

On April 8 and 9, 2016, just before the XV Moscow Easter Festival, Maestro visited Vladivostok with the Mariinsky Orchestra to give four concerts. Two of them were charitable and were intended especially for children.

All concerts of the conductor in 2016 were held under the auspices of Sergei Prokofiev’s music. Valery Gergiev appeared in Havana, New York, Mexico City, Tomsk, Ulan-Ude, and now in Vladivostok. “I hope to do a good job. Sergei Prokofiev is a colossal Russian composer, he is loved dearly all over the world. We, Russian musicians, cannot disregard such a glorious date, 125 years since his birth”, Maestro told the reporters.

The extensive anniversary program included the performance of Peter and the Wolf. Throughout the year, the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev performed the Prokofiev’s symphonic fairy tale every month, and the solo Narrators were chosen by the audience. In Vladivostok, the famous actor Konstantin Khabensky acted as the benevolent storyteller.

Konstantin Khabensky as the Narrator in Peter and the Wolf. April 8, 2016
Photo by Aleksandr Shapunov

The concert programs also included music from Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet and his Symphony No. 3.

The performances were followed by a flurry of applause and the Maestro’s strong statements. The big news was that from July 30 to August 10, 2016, Vladivostok was going to host a grandiose international music festival. It would bring together musicians from all over the Russian Far East, as well as artists from Japan, Korea, China and the USA.

“It’s a risky venture, to hold the audience’s attention for two weeks in a row, but the Primorsky Stage will handle it. After all, the Festival will be visited by some high-profile stars”, the Maestro intrigued the journalists at the press conference.

Press conference. April 9, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

The I International Mariinsky Far East Festival became a true sensation, with more than 300 participating world stars from Russia and 12 countries of the world! More than 20 thousand guests attended its 27 performances and concerts.

Valery Gergiev powerfully opened the Festival with the premiere of Sergei Prokofiev’s opera Betrothal in a Monastery, a rare title on theatre posters. The brilliant concert programs under the baton of the Maestro featured young musicians recently discovered by the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and young stars of the Grand Piano Competition.

Valery Gergiev announces the performance of pianist Alexander Malofeev. High fever did not prevent the young musician from entering the stage to perform the First movement of the Piano Concerto No.1 by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. July 29, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

Valery Gergiev gave an unforgettable performance with musicians on the Varyag cruiser. That concert was arranged for the Navy Day and was broadcast live on the Sportivnaya Embankment in Vladivostok.

With the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage, out at sea on the deck of the Varyag cruiser. July 31, 2016
Photo by Yuri Maltsev

Great music, great warship: the most unusual concert of the Festival. July 31, 2016
Photo by Yuri Maltsev

The final chord of the Festival was the Maestro performing with outstanding musicians of our time: the Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos and the South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son.

World star violinist Leonidas Kavakos visiting the Russian Far East for the first time. August 10, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

The unprecedented musical marathon in Vladivostok yielded stunning results, and Valery Gergiev announced his decision to make the Festival an annual event.

The Maestro speaking about the events of the International Mariinsky Far East Festival. July 30, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

The next cultural shock for the Primorsky audience was not long in coming. After a great tour of Asian countries, soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Mariinsky Orchestra headed by Valery Gergiev once again visited the seaside city that had already become their home. They would present a masterpiece of the composer who occupied a special place in the Maestro’s repertoire.

Under the spell of Wagner. November 1, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

On November 1, 2016, the introductory music drama of Richard Wagner’s cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen was performed for the first time in Vladivostok. The concert version of Das Rheingold was performed by a brilliant cast of soloists from St Petersburg: Vladislav Sulimsky, Mikhail Vekua, Yuri Vorobiev, Anna Kiknadze, Zlata Bulycheva, Oxana Shilova, Vadim Kravets, and Andrei Popov.

To enjoy Wagner’s operas performed by soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre is an exceptional event for music lovers. November 1, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

“The power of Wagner’s music and the high degree of performance thrilled the audience so much that people could not let the performers go for a long time”, the press wrote.

Wagner. Gergiev. Mariinsky. Vladivostok. November 1, 2016
Photo by Gennady Shishkin

The next day, a musical tour “Through the Scores of Great French Operas” awaited the audience. An exceptional event of that Gala Concert was the performance of Act V of Hector Berlioz’s Les Troyens. Later that evening, Valery Gergiev and Diana Vishneva paid tribute to the memory of Maya Plisetskaya. The legendary ballet Carmen Suite once created for the great ballerina, found a new life on the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.