The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre presents the repertoire for March and the first days of April. The restart of the Mariinsky Holidays Project will come as the highlight of the season.
From March 24 to April 2, 2023, the Primorsky Stage is going to host events for young audiences of different ages. In an entertaining way, the kids will be introduced to historical figures and literary heroes who will come to life in opera and ballet performances on the Primorsky Stage. The performances will be accompanied by guided tours and master classes given by professional artists and teachers. The young guests will be able to get some ballet skills, learn about the historical development of the Russian opera, take a closer look at costumes and props, and also take part in a poetry competition.
The spring playbill will delight children and their parents with another event, the premiere performance of The Turnip opera intended for the whole family. The opera will be performed on March 25 and 26 and on April 1, 2023 in the Chamber Hall of the Theatre. The soloist of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers Rustam Sagdiev has called his first opera “an iconic example of Russian folklore for children”. The idea behind its creation belongs to Larisa Gergieva, Artistic Director of the Academy. She proposed that the young composer write an opera for children based on a Russian theme, the folkloric nature of which would be present not just in the music but also in the texts and plot as well. The Chamber Hall will also host other small operas that have already won the affection of the audience: Murych the Cat (March 11, April 2, 2023) and The Little Prince (March 18, 2023).
March 7 and 8, 2023 will be imbued by festive atmosphere created by Johann Strauss II’s operetta Die Fledermaus. The ethereal spring mood will be maintained by Le nozze di Figaro (March 3 and 4, 2023) and Die Zauberflöte (March 19, 2023) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The opera playbill also includes masterpieces by outstanding Italian and Russian composers. The Great Hall will feature Giacomo Puccini’s dramatic works Tosca (March 2, 2023) and Turandot (March 17, 2023), Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s musical fairy tales The Tale of Tsar Saltan (March 5, April 2, 2023) and The Snow Maiden (March 10 and 12, 2023), and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s operas based on poems by Alexander Pushkin: Mazepa (March 26, 2023) and Eugene Onegin (March 30, 2023). On March 24, 2023, Modest Musorgsky’s grandiose historical opera Boris Godunov will be performed.
The ballet playbill is promising classical performances to the audience. It contains Swan Lake (March 16, 2023), The Sleeping Beauty (March 25, 2023), La Bayadère (March 31, 2023), as well as outstanding modern performances Phaedra, The Firebird (March 11, 2023) and Konyok-Gorbunok (The Little Humpbacked Horse) (March 18, 2023). Guests wishing to encounter with various facets of the ballet art on a single evening should schedule their visit to the Theatre on March 23, 2023. This evening, ancient and modern choreography pieces will be performed, along with the one-act Carmen Suite ballet.
In April, the Primorsky Stage will continue to celebrate Sergei Rachmaninoff’s 150th anniversary. The Theater team is going to present the composer’s extensive work in all its diversity. For instance, on April 1, 2023 Symphonic Dances and the famous Spring cantata for baritone, chorus and orchestra will be performed.
