The extensive regional performance programme of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre continues. On 27 October, opera soloists, the Chorus and the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage will give a concert of symphonic and vocal music at the House of the Russian Army Officers in Ussuriysk, dedicated to the 200th anniversary since the birth of A.K. Tolstoy.
The concert programme features romances by A.K. Tolstoy to music by P.I. Tchaikovsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M.P. Mussorgsky, A.P. Borodin. In addition to well-known compositions, the concert includes little-known pieces, such as the orchestral song The Wolves by A.S. Arensky.
The vocal part of the programme will be supplemented by the rarely performed Sergei Rachmaninoff’s early symphonic poem Prince Igor based on the eponymous ballad by A. Tolstoy.
The evening will be concluded with one of the jewels of the world choral music — S.I. Taneyev’s cantata John of Damascus. The text of the Cantata, based on an excerpt from A. Tolstoy’s poem of the same name, describes contemplations of a 18th century Byzantine monk about death and is often rightfully referred to as the “Russian Requiem”. The Cantata, conducted by Taneyev, premiered in Moscow in 1884 and caused a sensation. After its St Petersburg premiere the celebrated critic and composer César Cui wrote: “Our art has been enriched with a composition original in colouring and outstanding in merit”. Today, the Cantata John of Damascus is in the repertoire of all leading choral ensembles and invariably receives a rapturous reception from the audience.
The Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage and the Primorsky Stage Opera soloists already visited Ussuriysk last December. Year by year, the theatre expands the map of its regional performance programme. The artists successfully performed in the Khabarovsk Region as part of the 16th Moscow Easter Festival and this season, in August and September, together with the Mariinsky Opera soloists, they presented a concert performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra in Khabarovsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
