Starting with the III Mariinsky Festival, the main task of the next years has been to treat the public to the most diverse repertoire. Vladivostok audiences have enjoyed masterpieces by Wagner and Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev performed by real opera stars conducted by Valery Gergiev.
“We are trying to enrich the Festival playbill in such a way that the city will get acquainted with five or seven new opera and ballet titles at a time”, said Valery Gergiev at a press conference dedicated to the III Mariinsky Festival. “Over the three Festivals, we have held dozens of performances, and we have brought such productions that have definitely never been performed in Vladivostok, in the entire Russian Far East, and even in the neighboring countries”.
Valery Gergiev speaking about the Festival ideas. Press conference held on August 5, 2018
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The events of the Mariinsky Festival have been long arising great interest far beyond Primorye and even Russia. Tickets for the Festival performances and concerts are bought in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, and they are bought in hundreds.
If the playbill contains the name of Valery Gergiev, the hall is not just a full house, but, as journalists put it, a real “overfull house”.
At the III Festival, the Maestro took the console to conduct three operas, including Salome by Richard Strauss in concert performance. The title role featured a new star, a soprano discovery Elena Stikhina, who had made a triumphant debut as Salome at the Mariinsky Theatre the year before.
Salome is performed for the first time in Vladivostok, with Elena Stikhina and Yevgeny Nikitin. August 4, 2018
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
Soloists of the Primorsky Stage Opera Company, as well as the Chorus of the Primorsky Stage, appear more and more often in performances conducted by Valery Gergiev along with the artists of the Mariinsky Theatre from St Petersburg. This is no coincidence but a logical result of the great work on the quality of performance.
The Chorus and soloists of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage are important participants in the events conducted by the Maestro. Concert performance of The Enchantress by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. August 4, 2019
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
Without changing the traditions of past years, the Maestro continued the series of performances of operas by Richard Wagner. For the first time in Vladivostok, the audience enjoyed the modern interpretation of Tristan und Isolde.
“We bring here only our best performances, those that have been shown in Italy, in Paris, in New York,” Valery Gergiev imparted. “In my opinion, it is great when the Vladivostok audiences enjoy the productions which have been performed in Paris, and with the same soloists.”
The five-hour opera has become a revelation, a delight and, at the same time, an unconventional test for inquisitive audiences. However, when asked whether they would like to see more such performances on the playbill, almost everyone answered yes.
The updated Wagner’s opera came as a culture shock for the Festival audiences. Yulia Matochkina and Elena Popovskaya in the production of Tristan und Isolde. August 5, 2018
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
At the next Festival, the Maestro premiered Wagner’s Parsifal in a large-scale production by Tony Palmer. “For several hours, Gergiev’s raw power captivated not only the Chorus, soloists and the Mariinsky Orchestra, but also the audiences who were drinking in the magical sounds of the Wagner mystery”, the Musical Life reviewer noted.
In anticipation of the Wagner’s mystery opera. August 3, 2019
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
Parsifal as “a holy grail” of the operatic repertoire. August 3, 2019
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The concert performances of opera gems by Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Iolanta with Irina Churilova (2018), The Enchantress with Maria Bayankina (2019) were no less worthy. The powerful and expressive Orchestra overwhelmed the audience with its passion and energetic impact in dramatic episodes, even without the specialized scenery.
After a concert performance of Iolanta by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. August 4, 2018
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
In December 2019, after an extensive tour of the countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra gave two concerts on the Primorsky Stage, presenting the classics of their repertoire, the famous works by Mendelssohn, Debussy, and Berlioz.
Studying the orchestra with Valery Gergiev. Performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic tale Peter and the Wolf. December 11, 2019
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The Maestro devoted one of his programs to the music by Prokofiev, personally acting as the Narrator in the symphonic tale Peter and the Wolf. This came as a true surprise to the audiences.
That night was dedicated to music by Sergei Prokofiev. Pianist Ilya Rashskovskiy performed solo in the Piano Concerto No. 3. December 11, 2019
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
With the Mariinsky Orchestra. December 11, 2019
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The pandemic was a very severe testing period for all artists: “This is a dizzying fall, we have never encountered anything like this”, said Valery Gergiev, under whose leadership not only theatres and concert halls, but also many festivals operated. It was wrong to plan the annual Mariinsky Festival in Vladivostok under such conditions. After all, the borders were closed and there would be no visitors from Asian countries.
As soon as some of the restrictions were lifted in June 2020, Valery Gergiev, with the Mariinsky Orchestra and soloists, resumed performances, giving more than a hundred concerts in different regions of the country. To be able to come to Vladivostok, the Maestro refused to participate in the Salzburg Festival. As he “exonerated himself” at a press conference, “As I see it, in this situation it is morally more correct to do something in Russia, because concerts and music can inspire certain optimism in the life of the regions”.
The fifth Festival will take place!
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The V International Mariinsky Far East Festival started on August 14, 2020 and went on for 24 days.
“Despite the complete absence of tourists from China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan (and they sometimes made up more than half of the audience), we decided not to postpone the event to the next year”, said Valery Gergiev. “In my opinion, moving it to October or November would also be a bad idea. It would deceive expectations of the Primorye audiences, who over five years have become accustomed to the fact that the Festival takes place in summer. Therefore, we have brought to Vladivostok our best Mariinsky Theatre artists who can adorn any international festival”.
Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk is the precious star of the Festival. After the concert performance of Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana. August 30, 2020
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The Maestro presented four opera premieres. For the first time, Vladivostok enjoyed concert versions of the masterpieces that the Mariinsky company had recently added or restored to the repertoire, taking advantage of the forced pauses during the pandemic. Among them were Sergei Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel, resumed after an eight-year break with a new cast of vocalists, Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and the 3rd act of Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
A successful continuation of the Wagner Cycle. The 3rd act of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in a concert performance. August 30, 2020
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The world-famous bass Ildar Abdrazakov appeared on the Primorsky Stage for the first time, having performed one of his crowning parts, Philip II, in the premiere of Don Carlo by Giuseppe Verdi.
Ildar Abdrazakov performs in Vladivostok for the first time. Don Carlo by Giuseppe Verdi. August 29, 2020
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
Curtain calls at the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo. August 29, 2020
Photo by Gennady Shishkin
The plans for the coming future were no less grandiose. The Primorsky Stage in Vladivostok also had its special tasks. “It is important to present the operas by Russian composers such as Ruslan and Lyudmila, Boris Godunov, Mazepa, i.e. something that has not been heard here for a long time, or something rare. Today, the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District is taking bold and drastic steps towards becoming a stronghold of opera culture in the East of Russia”, Valery Gergiev summed up at a press conference.
