Results of the I Mariinsky International Far East Festival in Vladivostok in figures:
On August 10 the I International Mariinsky Far East Festival concludes with a grand concert of the Combined Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev along with the internationally acclaimed Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos and South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son.
The I International Mariinsky Far East Festival in Vladivostok at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre saw the first performances of the operas Betrothal in a Monastery by Sergei Prokofiev and Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. These productions, that were transferred from the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, were a resounding success at packed festival venues featuring internationally acclaimed performers "the finest Cio-Cio-San in the world" Ana María Martínez (Puerto Rico) and soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre – People's Artists of Russia Larisa Diadkova, Sergei Aleksashkin and Yuri Laptev, Honoured Artist of Russia Yevgeny Akimov and prize-winner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition Yulia Matochkina among others. Yuri Temirkanov's production of the opera The Queen of Spades was performed by Mariinsky Theatre soloists Larisa Diadkova, Mikhail Vekua and Yulia Matochkina. Both performances featured soloists and the chorus of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.
Ballet playbill of the festival included the finest works of the Creative Workshop of Young Choreographers project – the one-act productions SeasonS, Pavlovsk and Choreographic Game 3x3. Highlights of the ballet playbill included performance by a Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerina Diana Vishneva and internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer Vladimir Malakhov with the ballet Old Man and Me in Vladivostok, as well as a meeting and autograph session for guests of the festival. Ulyana Lopatkina danced twice at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre – in Jerome Robbins' ballet In the Night and in the choreographic miniature Melody. The ballerina was partnered with the first soloist of the Mariinsky Ballet Andrei Yermakov. During the festival prima ballerina Ekaterina Kondaurova appeared in the ballets Carmen-Suite, Symphony in C, In the Night, SeasonS and Choreographic Game 3x3. Among others, taking part in the I International Mariinsky Far East Festival were Mariinsky Theatre prima ballerina Oxana Skorik, Mariinsky Theatre principal dancers Danila Korsuntsev and Yevgeny Ivanchenko, first soloist of the Opéra de Paris Hannah O'Neill, up-and-coming South Korean star Soo Bin Lee and Mariinsky Ballet soloists Alexander Sergeyev, Xander Parish and Yekaterina Osmolkina among others.
The concert playbill of the I Mariinsky International Far East Festival featured performances by the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre and on board the cruiser Varyag. The fabled ensemble was also conducted by Vladislav Karklin, Min Chung and Pavel Smelkov. Under the baton of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre's Principal Conductor Pavel Smelkov, the musicians also performed at the Primorsky Regional Philharmonic and at the House of Officers of the Russian Army in Ussuriisk.
The festival's chamber music program presented Russian audiences with rising star musicians from South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Greece. At the Chamber Hall of the Primorsky Stage there were appearances by prize-winning virtuosi of the I International Young Pianists' Grand Piano Competition Shio Okui and Tinghong Lao as well as Kanon Matsuda, up-and-coming pianists Dasol Kim and Tae Hyung Kim, prize-winners at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition violinist Yu-Chien Tseng and pianist Sergei Redkin, who took part in four festival events. Vocal music was presented by prize-winners of the XV International Tchikovsky Competition Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar (Mongolia) and Yulia Matochkina (Russia) as well as South Korean soprano Sunhae Im.
Notable festival events included performances by the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble with Dmitry Masleyev, recipient of the 1st prize at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition, and American violinist Nigel Armstrong. The Primorsky Stage Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre also performed at the closing of the Children of the World at the All-Russian Children's Centre Ocean.
Also taking part in the festival was the Orchestra of the Pacific Fleet of Russia under conductors Major Andrei Popov and Captain Ilya Sergeyev.
The new 2016-17 season of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre opens on August 13. The first performance of the season will be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte staged by Alain Maratrat, the premiere of which proved to be a great success in May of 2016, (13 and 14 of August).
Also in August, there will be performances of the operas La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi (19 August), The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (August 21) and Carmen by Georges Bizet (August 27); and the ballets The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky (August 20), Giselle by Adolphe Adam (August 26) and Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (August 28).
The September playbill will bring audiences the Vladivostok premiere of the one-act-ballets Bambi and In the Jungle, based on the novels by Felix Salten and staged by Anton Pimonov, set to music by Andrei Golovin and Alexander Lokshin (24 and 25 of September). There will also be a new project — from 18 to 22 of September at the Great Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre there will be a Beethoven Marathon. One of the most dazzling representatives of the Russian piano school Alexei Volodin accompanied by the Primorsky Stage Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre under the baton of Pavel Smelkov, will perform all piano concerti by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Elena Stikhina, prize-winner at the XXIV International Operalia Competition, will be appearing as Lisa and Tatiana in Pyotr Tchaikovsky's operas The Queen of Spades (September 1) and Eugene Onegin (September 4), as well as in the role of Violetta Valéry in Giuseppe Verdi's opera La traviata (September 8).
One key event of the ballet playbill will be the appearance of rising star from South Korea Soo Bin Lee in Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle (September 9).
Moreover, the September playbill also includes the operas Tosca by Giacomo Puccini (September 11), The Love for Three Oranges by Sergei Prokofiev (September 15) and Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (September 29); and the ballets Le Corsaire by Adolphe Adam (September 2), The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky (September 17) and The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (September 30).
