After a long forced break, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre company visited the Primorye capital again. Once again, it came as a cultural shock. Vladivostok enjoyed a legendary performance that reflected one of the trends in the near future development of the Primorsky Stage repertoire and the Festival. On November 19 and 20, 2021, Modest Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina was performed on the Primorsky Stage in a carefully restored and updated historical production by Leonid Baratov. Those were the reference performances previously shown in the theatres of St Petersburg, Milan, London and Vienna. The performances were held with the participation of the Chorus and soloists of the Primorsky Stage.
Khovanshchina, for the first time on the Primorsky Stage. November 19, 2021
Photo by Ilya Korotkov
“I want this performance to dwell on the Primorsky Stage. This is safe to say today. The opera is magnificent, and I hope it will be here for many, many years to come. I think that yesterday, the Chorus of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, showed itself very worthy. And I have congratulated the whole team on this”, the next day said the Maestro, praising the premiere performance of Khovanshchina in Vladivostok.
A curtain call. Premiere of Khovanshchina. November 20, 2021
Photo by Ilya Korotkov
“Outstanding opera and ballet repertoire will come here and become part of life of the Primorye audience. We all consider it an obligation and a great pleasure to perform in Vladivostok”, he told the media.
Next year, when the world experienced turbulences, Valery Gergiev’s position remained unshaken. In the summer of 2022, the VII International Mariinsky Far East Festival was still the main musical forum for the entire region.
Vladivostok welcomes the VII International Mariinsky Far East Festival
Photo by Kirill Druzhinin
The audiences crave the classics. Guests of the Mariinsky Festival
Photo by Kirill Druzhinin
At the Festival press conference, Valery Gergiev admitted: “I can’t imagine that anything happening in the world, be it pandemic or political upheavals, could extinguish our duty to hold Festivals. Our artists chose to give up their vacation in order to come to this faraway but already so dear for our Theatre city, bringing people the joy of encounter with the high art”.
Backstage, together with the artists. August 2, 2022
Photo by Kirill Druzhinin
The Festival’s extensive operatic program included masterpieces by Giuseppe Verdi (Aida, Il trovatore) and several significant pieces from the “Golden Fund” of the Russian opera, performed under the baton of the Maestro. Mikhail Glinka’s canonical A Life for the Tsar, Sergei Prokofiev’s “soldier opera” Semyon Kotko, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s tragic Mazepa – each of them rarely shines on theatre playbills, and each of them touches on the theme of devotion to one’s Fatherland.
The unique performance list of the Festival includes Semyon Kotko by Sergei Prokofiev. August 3, 2022
Photo by Kirill Druzhinin
Irina Churilova in the historical production of Mazepa by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. August 7, 2022
Photo by Kirill Druzhinin
The Festival premiere of another iconic Russian opera has become particularly special. Modest Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov was presented in a stage version based on Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1983 London play, his only opera directing experience. The audience of the Mariinsky Festival enjoyed performance of the title part by Ildar Abdrazakov, “Boris No. 1”, the top Russian bass of his generation.
Ildar Abdrazakov in the opera Boris Godunov on the Primorsky Stage. August 4, 2022
Photo by Kirill Druzhinin
“Ildar came to Vladivostok for the second time. This is a very important event. He will offer us his powerful interpretation of the protagonist’s image. And he will be surrounded by great singers as well. The main thing is that the opera itself will be performed in Vladivostok. This performance should also live here. The Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage and the Chorus have already proven their convincing power during the first two performances of Khovanshchina”, Valery Gergiev noted at a meeting with journalists.
Valery Gergiev: “Russia has a cultural future now”. At a press conference on August 3, 2022
Photo by Kirill Druzhinin
The Maestro also spoke extensively on the important goals of the Mariinsky Theatre in the Far East:
“One of the main tasks is to help all generations of Russians, especially the younger ones, to perceive what country they live in, and this is very important. Despite the global political situation, the greatness of a country always determines its cultural past, present and future. Russia has a cultural future already. Sooner or later, culture begins to influence politics and comes to the fore”, the Maestro emphasized.
A launch of a new state-of-the-art theatre stage, educational centers and museum complexes is in store for the Primorye capital. Valery Gergiev promises: “We are taking the first steps along the path that will make Vladivostok a major center of opera and ballet traditions”.
Backstage, after Khovanshchina premiere performance. November 20, 2021
Photo by Ilya Korotkov
The content was prepared by Natalia Rogudeeva
