News

Honored Artist of the Republic of Bashkortostan, prize-winner at international competitions Irina Sapozhnikova returns to the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.

The prima ballerina of the Primorsky Ballet Company will give her first performances in the new season in St Petersburg, during the company’s traditional tour on the Historical Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, and will continue in the current repertoire in Vladivostok.

“I am very happy to perform on my native stage again. At the same time, I feel delighted that I am at home, but there is also excitement and responsibility towards the audience. I want to meet all expectations. I’d like the audience to visit the Theatre as often as possible and enjoy the artists’ work. I think the season will be full of interesting events. Follow the news!”, notes the ballerina.

Irina Sapozhnikova graduated from the Bashkiria Choreography College named after Rudolf Nureyev and from 2007 to 2013 was a member of the ballet company at the Bashkiria State Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 2013 she was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Republic of Bashkortostan. She has been on tour in Brazil, Portugal, France, Thailand, China, Mexico, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Finland.

In Vladivostok, the dancer continued her creative activity since the opening of the opera house in 2013, immediately becoming the leading performer of the main roles: Odette-Odile in Swan Lake; Giselle and Myrtha in Giselle; the Firebird in The Firebird; the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker; Medora in Le Corsaire. Her performances of the parts of Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty and Carmen in Carmen Suite came as an undeniable success on the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. As part of the Theatre’s Ballet Company, Irina Sapozhnikova has taken part in tours to Harbin (China), Seoul (South Korea), and repeatedly performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. 

It is worth noting that the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre continues to expand. By the start of the season, 16 corps de ballet dancers were employed, and they have already begun rehearsals.

In July the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will start the 2024/25 season. The last season premieres and favorite performances are expected to be presented to the public. 

Operas

The Primorsky Stage will start the 2024/25 season with some colorful premieres not long ago included in the opera repertoire. On July 26 and 27, 2024 the audience will be able to enjoy Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. The opera is a lyrical and life-affirming story of a young princess’s love and recovery from blindness, staged by Anna Shishkina, with set and costume design by Pyotr Okunev. On July 28, 2024 the colorful and hilarious opera The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev, shocking to the core with its flashy scenography and non-trivial dreamlike plot, will be given.

In August Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s masterpieces will be performed to mark the 180^th anniversary of the composer. The historical dramatic opera The Tsar’s Bride will be presented on August 2 and 3, 2024. The Tale of Tsar Saltan will be given on August 4, 2024.

Another opera marathon is dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi. The public will enjoy almost in a row the Italian composer’s three works such as the vivid opera Aida on August 16 and 18, 2024, the monumental operatic drama Don Carlo on August 23, 2024 and the model psychodramatic opera La traviata on August 24, 2024.

The summer playbill will also be adorned with Ruggero Leoncavallo’s emotional Pagliacci on August 9 and 10, 2024, Johann Strauss II’s sparkling Die Fledermaus on August 30, 2024 and Georges Bizet’s passionate Carmen on September 1, 2024. 

Ballets

The Primorsky Stage Ballet will start the season with their guest appearance in Saint Petersburg. As part of the XXXII Stars of the White Nights Festival, such ballets as Alexander Glazunov’s Raymonda, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Adolphe Adam’s Le Corsaire choreographed by Eldar Aliev will be performed on the Historical Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre from July 30 to August 9, 2024.

The Primorsky Stage Ballet’s eventful guest program cannot exclude their appearance on the home stage. This summer, residents and guests of Vladivostok will have an opportunity to enjoy such time-proved classic ballets as Adolphe Adam’s Giselle on August 15, 2024 and Ludwig Minkus’s Don Quixote on August 31, 2024, and such contemporary ballet pieces as one-act ballets Carmen Suite and The Firebird on August 17, 2024 and Rodion Shchedrin’s ballet Konyok-Gorbunok (The Little Humpbacked Horse) on August 29, 2024.

Performances for Children

The Chamber Hall playbill includes the most sought-after performances for children such as Sergei Banevich’s Murych the Cat on August 17, 2024, Leonid Klinichev’s The Little Prince on August 25, 2024 and Gennady Gladkov’s Town Musicians of Bremen on August 31, 2024.

Surprises for Music Lovers

In August the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage under the baton of the Principal Conductor Pavel Smelkov will present two large-scale concert programs in the Great Hall on August 11 and 25, 2024.

Scenic Introductions

The Scenic Introduction educational project will proceed from the beginning of the season. Performances are preceded by Scenic Introductions to give an idea of their cultural and historical backgrounds to the public.

This summer, Scenic Introductions will take place before Ruggero Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci, Giuseppe Verdi’s operas Aida and Don Carlo and Johann Strauss II’s operetta Die Fledermaus.

St Petersburg theatre-goers will be able to enjoy exclusive productions from Vladivostok from July 30 to August 9, 2024. Several ballets with a Far Eastern tinge will be performed by artists of the Primorsky Stage: The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Raymonda by Alexander Glazunov and Le Corsaire by Adolphe Adam.

All 12 performances will take place on the famous Historical Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. Along with the masterpieces already well-known and loved by the public, the tour program will include a new Primorsky Stage production, Raymonda by Alexander Glazunov, choreographed by Eldar Aliev. The performance was first shown in St Petersburg this February, and has already found its audience.

“I am sure that classical heritage pieces should be revised from time to time. They should be brought in line with the perception of theatrical performances by the audience, and with today’s aesthetics. They also should reflect the current technical level of the artists’ performing skills; so, as you can see, there are many factors tied together. All the choreographic achievements of Raymonda have been preserved in our performance, while all the lengths have been removed and the storyline has been slightly adapted. In my opinion, it has become more understandable, more consistent”, comments Eldar Aliev, Ballet Artistic Director of the Primorsky Stage.

“The performance has really turned out to be dynamic, intriguing and vivid, with luxurious picturesque scenery and costumes. The famous Glazunov waltzes, mazurka, Hungarian and Saracen dances, along with the entire suite of Arabic-Spanish dances, were performed brilliantly”, notes Maria Kozhevnikova, columnist of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

“The plot and dance consist of straight and clean lines. It is a hymn to beauty, fidelity, romanticism and nobility, which you and I, perhaps, lack most of all today”, wrote Prima Media news agency columnist Alexander Kulikov.

It should be noted that the Primorsky Stage Ballet visits the northern capital twice a year on tour, and these visits have already become a good tradition. It is also noteworthy that today many viewers have begun to recognize the Primorsky Stage versions of famous ballets. For local audiences, this is an opportunity to enjoy original versions of classical performances, as well as to discover new performers.

June 17, 2024 marks the 142^nd anniversary of the birth of Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky. To commemorate the occasion, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre will present special programs as part of the ambitious Music Festival Genius of the Place. The central event of the celebration will be a performance in the composer’s homeland, Oranienbaum, where the principal dancers of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre Sergei Umanetc and Anna Samostrelova will participate.

On June 16, 2024, a special program in honor of Stravinsky’s birthday will be presented in the Southern Courtyard of the Grand Menshikov Palace in Oranienbaum Park in the Peterhof Museum-Reserve. The performance will start at 3:00 pm, and will feature a public gala concert of ballet soloists and the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev. The ballet program of the gala concert will include duets of Firebird and Ivan, Princess and Ivan from The Firebird ballet, performed by the soloists of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal dancers Anna Samostrelova and Sergei Umanetc.

It should be noted that in the 2023/24 season, the Primorsky Stage’s production of The Firebird was first performed in Vladikavkaz on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre Branch; the ballet also travelled to Pyongyang, the capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Genius of the Place is a festival that brings together musical offerings in the homelands of great Russian composers. This season it started on March 22, 2024 in Tikhvin. In total, the program included five places: Tikhvin, where Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was born; Pskov, which gave the world Modest Petrovich Musorgsky; Smolensk, the birthplace of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka; Votkinsk, the hometown of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The final destination of the Festival will be Oranienbaum, Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky’s hometown.

The event is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture ROSCONCERT.

On June 2, 2024, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre completed the 2023/24 theatre season with the performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s famous opera The Queen of Spades. More than 200,000 spectators attended the Theatre’s events during the season.

Opera

In the 2023/24 season, the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage presented some exuberant premieres. In October, audiences enjoyed a new production of Sergei Prokofiev’s cheerful opera The Love for Three Oranges (directed by Alexander Petrov). Valery Gergiev himself stood at the console on the first night, conducting the Mariinsky Orchestra.

In April, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s light lyrical opera Iolanta received its stage incarnation on the Primorsky Stage. Anna Shishkina’s production was complemented by set design by Pyotr Okunev and colorful picturesque costumes, all of which had been sewn by craftsmen from Vladivostok under his original sketches.

Several memorable premieres have taken place in the Chamber Hall of the Theatre. The audiences have been presented with the opera for the whole family Town Musicians of Bremen to the music by Gennady Gladkov. Also, the Theatre’s chamber repertoire has been replenished with a unique program with sand animation, the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka.

In November, soloists of the Primorsky Stage Opera Company presented Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci on the Historical Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre as part of the program of the IX Saint Petersburg International Cultural Forum.

Symphony Programs

From September 21 to October 7, 2023, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre traditionally became the main venue for the Pacific International Theatre Festival. The Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus of the Primorsky Stage, together with soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Primorsky Stage Opera Company, took part in the gala opening of the forum, performing the famous Carmina Burana, symphonic work by Carl Orff staged by the Contemporary Dance of Cuba.

In September, the Orchestra musicians, the Chorus and the opera soloists performed together, giving for the first time a large public concert on the Central Square of Vladivostok in honor of the consecration of the main temple of the city, the Transfiguration Cathedral building. Besides, during the year, the Mariinsky Chorus of the Primorsky Stage twice performed a great spiritual work, All Night Vigil by Sergei Rachmaninoff, in the new temple.

This season’s symphony programs were marked by three ambitious cycles. In December 2023, the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage completed the Rachmaninoff – 150 Cycle. The project had presented not only famous symphonic works by Rachmaninoff, but also his multifaceted vocal heritage, including one-act operas and romances, as well as the symphonic poem All-Night Vigil. Concerts to commemorate the composer’s anniversary had taken place in Vladivostok, Ussuriysk and Spassk-Dalny. In Vladivostok, the works by Sergei Rachmaninoff had been performed in the halls of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, the Officers’ House of the Pacific Fleet and the Far Eastern Federal University.

In the following month, a new cycle, Pushkin – 225, was launched. The Theatre company presented a record number of performances from its Pushkin repertoire, and also presented new ones, namely the stage versions of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s operas Aleko and The Miserly Knight. In addition, in early spring, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre hosted a series of events dedicated to the 180^th anniversary of the main “storyteller” of the Russian classical music, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The Eastern Economic Forum

From September 7 to 11, 2023, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre traditionally became one of the main cultural venues of the Eastern Economic Forum. As part of the Forum, the public was presented with the Festival of Indian Culture in Russia, the ballet premiere of the 2022/23 season, Raymonda by Alexander Glazunov, several vocal pieces and the opera Francesca da Rimini by Sergei Rachmaninoff performed by opera diva Albina Shagimuratova. Pianist Denis Matsuev and the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Jurowski also participated in the event. A highlight of the program was the world’s first concert with the participation of artificial intelligence. Together with the neural network, the symphony Cosmos by Pyotr Dranga was performed by the Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus of the Primorsky Stage.

The Far East Easter Festival

In May, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre presented a new project, the Far East Easter Festival, which became part of the large-scale Moscow Easter Festival, held under the direction of Valery Gergiev.

From May 9 to 14, 2024, a series of vocal symphony concerts took place in the largest cities of the Far East: Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Not only the opera soloists, the Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage took part in the gala opening, but also the Combined Chorus of the Vladivostok Eparchy and the Russian Pacific Fleet Orchestra. The Festival program featured pieces of the Russian and foreign classics. Khabarovsk saw the premiere of the season, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta in full stage design.

Ballet

The touring season has turned out to be especially busy for the Primorsky Stage Ballet Company.

The Ballet Company has taken part in the VIII International Mariinsky Far East Festival, featuring the ballets Giselle by Adolphe Adam, Don Quixote by Ludwig Minkus and the premiere of the 2022/23 season, Raymonda by Alexander Glazunov. 

In August, the Primorsky Stage dancers presented their ballets – Le Corsaire by Adolphe Adam, The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and A Thousand and One Nights by Fikret Amirov – on the stages of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg as part of the traditional summer tour.

In September, the Ballet Company performed on the Historical Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, for the first time and with great success. Accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus of the Primorsky Stage, and by a soloist of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, the Ballet Company presented Fikret Amirov’s ballet A Thousand and One Nights.

Immediately after completing its series of performances in Moscow, the Ballet Company went to Vladikavkaz, where on the stage of the Branch of the Mariinsky Theatre, they presented one-act ballets Phaedra by Philip Glass and The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky.

In October, the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage twice performed The Sleeping Beauty as part of the opening of the Days of Culture of Primorsky Region in Harbin, People’s Republic of China. In December, they performed for the first time in the capital of Qatar, Doha, where they presented Fikret Amirov’s ballet A Thousand and One Nights.

That tour was followed by a tour to Saint Petersburg again, and included the latest ballet premiere of the Theatre, Raymonda to the music by Alexander Glazunov. 

In March, the Ballet Company further expanded its touring geography with a grandiose series of performances in the capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pyongyang. The audience was treated to The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky, as well as a program of modern and ancient choreography.

Guest Artists and Ensembles

During the 2023/24 season, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre welcomed guest performers: Albina Shagimuratova, Vladimir Moroz, Zinaida Tsarenko, Elena Gorlo, Inara Kozlovskaya, Alexander Mikhailov, Oleg Dolgov, Ivan Gyngazov, Ayuna Bazargurueva, Nikolay Didenko, Alexander Pokidchenko, Stanislav Korchagin, Denis Matsuev, Lev Klychkov, Oxana Skorik, Andrei Yermakov, Alexander Sergeev, Yevgeny Konovalov, Elena Yevseyeva, Alexandra Khiteyeva, Timur Askerov, Ruslan Stenyushkin, Anastasia Lukina, Maria Bulanova. 

During the recent season, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre hosted such ensembles as the National Symphonic Orchestra of the Republic of Bashkortostan conducted by Dmitry Kryukov, the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dmitry Jurowski, the Liaoning Ballet of China, the Borodin Quartet, the Leonid Yakobson Ballet Theatre, the Jilin National Orchestra of Traditional Chinese Musical Instruments. This season, the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage continued the tradition of holding joint concerts with students of the Primorsky Branch of the Central Music College – Academy of Performing Arts.

Educational Projects

This season, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre has resumed its educational project – Scenic Introduction, intended to help the audiences gain a better perception of the theatrical performances and concerts, give them an idea of how composers work, and draw their attention to the most important components of the future performance.

During the 2023/24 season, Scenic Introductions greeted the public before the “Rachmaninoff – 180” concert and before the opera performances Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, Iolanta and The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Boris Godunov by Modest Musorgsky, Aleko and The Miserly Knight by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

On June 2, 2024, Honored Artist of Russia, soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre Oleg Dolgov will perform on the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre for the first time. The singer is going to participate in the final performance of the 2023/24 theatre season, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades in the legendary costume production by Yuri Temirkanov.

Oleg Dolgov is a prizewinner at the International Competition “Tenors of Russia” and a diploma winner at the International Competition of Vocalists (Naples). In 2012–2014 he was a soloist at the Moscow Novaya Opera Theatre. In 2008 he made his debut at the Bolshoi Theatre as Vaudemont (Iolanta by Pyotr Tchaikovsky), and in 2014 he was accepted into the opera company. The singer’s repertoire consists of leading tenor parts, including Don Carlo and Alfredo (Don Carlo and La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi), Don Jose (Carmen by Georges Bizet), Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca by Giacomo Puccini). 

In Vladivostok, the singer will perform, as he himself puts it, the “epochal part”, that is, Herman in Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades. Throughout his career, Oleg Dolgov has repeatedly turned to the tragic hero on the verge of insanity, and in March 2024 he made his debut performing that leading character in a production of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.

“The part is a very emotional, psychologically tense one. For me, this is an absolutely dramatic piece, where I have to fade into insanity and obsession gradually deepening them as the plot develops”, the singer pointed out.

The critics have noted the singer’s confident and accurate fit into the image of Herman:

“Oleg Dolgov cut a dashing figure: his spinto tenor was smooth and ringing in all registers, which only added to the impression of such a difficult part as Herman”, wrote the famous observer Nikolai Rybinsky.

“Herman sung by Oleg Dolgov (owner of a dramatic tenor with a noble matte timbre) is rich in intonation, and the interpretation of the part is perfect. I recall his reaction to the silence of the Countess in the bedroom scene; this convulsive gesticulation, this internal struggle vividly convey a person in a borderline state of consciousness”, comments Olesya Bobrik in the Musical Life magazine.

On May 24, 2024, the Great Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre held a large-scale concert of choral music dedicated to the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius.

Part I of the concert was dedicated to the 225^th anniversary of the birth of the great poet Alexander Pushkin. The Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage, under the direction of the Principal Conductor Pavel Smelkov, performed cantatas based on the poems by the hero of the day. The program opened with a repertoire rarity, the unique cantata The Feast of Peter the Great by Alexey Verstovsky. The concert went on with cantatas composed by the masters of vocal script, Sergey Taneyev and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and with Arion created by the recognized contemporary composer Alexander Smelkov. The soloists were opera singers Ilya Astafurov (tenor), Alexei Smirnov (tenor), Marat Mukhametzyanov (baritone) and Sergei Pleshivtsev (bass).

The Academic Choir of the Far Eastern Federal University under the direction of Elena Petukhova, Honored Worker of Culture of Russia, opened Part II of the concert, offering several pieces of the Russian classics to the public. The Vladivostok Combined Children’s Choir, accompanied by the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage, performed songs by Soviet and modern composers next. The conductor of the Primorsky Stage, Waleriy Trubin-Leonoff, took the console.

The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre has been taking part in festive concerts dedicated to the Day of Slavonic Literature since 2017. Such concerts always strive to popularize Russian culture through choral art. Every year, the best children’s and adult choirs of Vladivostok and Primorsky Region also take part in the event.

The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre presents its ballet playbill until the end of the 2023/24 theatre season. As early as in June the Ballet Company will take its traditional creative break, but only after performing five more of its outstanding productions.

On May 23, 2024, Alexander Glazunov’s Raymonda will be performed. This lavish ballet is distinguished by its romance aesthetics, the beauty of the corps de ballet scenes and the virtuosity of the main female part. Last season, that medieval chivalrous legend, told in the language of classical dance, became the uppermost ballet premiere of the Primorsky Stage. In February 2024 it became a real gift for the audience of St Petersburg as part of the traditional winter tour at the Mariinsky Theatre.

On May 25, 2024 at 14:00 and 19:00, the heroes of the universally loved oriental fairy tales will come to life in Fikret Amirov’s colorful ballet A Thousand and One Nights. Here, Shahriar and Scheherezade, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor and Aladdin with the Wonderful Lamp have come alive, receiving an original and distinctive choreographic embodiment. The ballet is rightfully considered the hallmark of the Ballet Company. It is incredibly popular not only on its native stage: this season, the performances have been also presented at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and in the capital of Qatar, Doha.

On May 30, 2024, the ballet connoisseurs will enjoy several modern ballet art masterpieces. Once again, the Theatre’s playbill will be featuring the legendary ballet Carmen Suite to music by Bizet – Shchedrin. In this production, Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso has combined the classics with elements of Spanish and Latin American dances. In the second part of the evening, the public will be presented with Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird, a colorful performance based on the Russian fairy-tale folklore.

On June 1, 2024, the ballet season will be rounded up with Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet-féerie The Sleeping Beauty, which is also timed to coincide with World Children’s Day. The ballet is one of the most spectacular performances on the Primorsky Stage. Like a jewelry box, it is filled with numerous vibrant scenes and ensembles. This season, the performance has had a rich touring program: the Primorsky Stage Ballet Company has performed The Sleeping Beauty in Harbin and, for the first time, in the capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pyongyang.

This year, the 225^th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin has become one of the cornerstone events of the theatre season at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. On the threshold of the anniversary, the Theatre Company will once again present a series of famous operas based on Pushkin’s plots, which will be crowned by performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s cult mystical opera The Queen of Spades staged by Yuri Temirkanov. The performance will be the top event of the 2023/24 season.

On May 18, 2024, the caravan of festive events will be launched by Ruslan and Lyudmila, a theatrical concert with sand animation to the music of another hero, whose anniversary is celebrated this year, Mikhail Glinka. This “playful creation” by Alexander Pushkin in the musical interpretation by the Primorsky Stage has adorned the repertoire of the Chamber Hall quite recently, but has already gained many fans of the new format.

On May 19, 2024, the fairytale theme will continue in the Great Hall, where Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s merry opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan will be performed. Written to Pushkin’s plot, it was timed to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the poet’s birth. The audiences will enjoy an exuberant production where the signs of the Old Russian life are reliably recreated. It seems that the openwork lace of wooden architecture and bright national costumes have come straight from the illustrations to a book of folk tales.

On May 26, 2024, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s lyrical opera Eugene Onegin, an unsurpassed musical embodiment of the great novel, will be performed. The heart of the opera is the sophisticated scene of Tatyana’s letter, imbibed with lyricism and emotionality. It was with that scene that the composer began his work on the opera, praising the poetry of the soul of Pushkin’s heroine. Along with this, Tchaikovsky’s music accurately conveys the atmosphere of noble life of those times. Then-popular waltz, mazurka and polonaise are widely represented by the composer, along with the Russian folklore motifs.

On May 29, 2024, the Primorsky Stage will unfold a large-scale costume historical drama about the Time of Troubles in Modest Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov. Its central theme is the tense relationship between Tsar and the ordinary people, who are presented as the main characters here. This musical drama sets a multifaceted picture of the era and amazes the viewer with its deep psychologism. The public will be able to learn more interesting facts about the opera from Scenic Introduction that is going to take place an hour before the beginning of the performance.

May 31, 2024 will be marked by special events, that are performances of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s one-act operas Aleko and The Miserly Knight. The composer has written only three operas, but two of them are inspired by Pushkin. Aleko, based on the plot of the poem The Gypsies, was written as a graduation work by 19-year-old Sergei Rachmaninoff, then a student at the Moscow Conservatory. For the composer, it became the first serious step along his creative path. Aleko’s aria “The Whole Camp is Asleep” has become a favorite piece in the bass repertoire and has a rich history of performances dating back to Feodor Chaliapin himself. The Miserly Knight is another chamber theatre masterpiece by Rachmaninoff. Its centerpiece is the old Baron’s monologue, where the composer masterfully reveals the character’s ambiguous personality. In his soul, nobility and greatness coexist with a manic passion for power and wealth, which ultimately chokes all human feelings. An hour before the beginning of the performance, Scenic Introduction for the audience will be taking place.

On June 2, 2024, the Theatre season will be crowned with another opera to Pushkin’s plot, The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in a luxurious production by Yuri Temirkanov. The re-created fence of the Summer Garden, a magnificent ball, camisoles, crinolines and wigs make the performance a classic paragon. The audiences will be able to take a look at the mystical St. Petersburg of the 19^th century, where the events of the famous novel unfold.

The next meetings with audiences within the framework of Scenic Introduction project of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre are taking place on May 17, 22, 29 and 31, 2024.

Scenic Introduction is an educational project of the Primorsky Stage, intended to help the audiences gain a better perception of the theatrical performances and concerts. In an easy interactive format, the theatre goers will receive an idea of how composers and performers work; the most important components of the future performance will be highlighted. The project was first launched in 2018. Today, the captivating conversations with musicologists are returning to the Primorsky Stage after a long break.

The encounters will be taking place in the 5^th floor lobby an hour before the beginning of performances. You can learn more about the schedule of Scenic Introduction from the website and social networks of the Primorsky Stage.

Four meetings of this format are scheduled within the framework of the project before the end of the theatre season. On May 17, 2024, Scenic Introduction will take place before the performance of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s colorful and emotional opera Pagliacci; on May 22, 2024, before the premiere performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta; on May 29, 2024, before the beginning of Modest Musorgsky’s monumental historical opera Boris Godunov; and on May 31, 2024, it will precede the performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s famous operas Aleko and The Miserly Knight.

The small lectures will touch upon the background of the operas; the peculiarities of their musical language, dramaturgy, and stage implementation will also be discussed.

Everyone who comes to enjoy the performance can attend Scenic Introduction free of charge.