From October 29 to November 3, 2024, the opera program of the IX International Mariinsky Far East Festival was taking place, featuring modern and classical opera masterpieces. The audience of the Far East was treated both to the Primorsky Stage repertoire, that is, The Enchanted Wanderer by Rodion Shchedrin and Tosca by Giacomo Puccini, and to vibrant premieres from St Petersburg: the historical opera drama Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi and the comic opera La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini. During the Festival, the program was supplemented by another event, the famous Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. In total, more than 8,500 spectators have attended the opera part of the Festival.
To commemorate the birthday of the outstanding modern composer Rodion Shchedrin, on October 29, 2024, the Festival started with a brilliant work by the master, The Enchanted Wanderer opera. The full version of this masterpiece is currently available in just two cities in the world, St Petersburg and Vladivostok. The main parts were performed by the Primorsky Stage soloists Yevgeny Plekhanov, Ilya Astafurov and Tatiana Makarchuk. The program continued with Italian opera pearls, Tosca by Giacomo Puccini and, for the first time in Vladivostok, Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi. The performances featured the famous Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev and the Primorsky Stage Chorus. The main parts were performed by soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre: Tatiana Serjan, Sergei Skorokhodov, Vyacheslav Vasilyev, Yakov Strizhak, Olga Maslova and Zinaida Tsarenko.
During the Festival, maestro Valery Gergiev decided to present another musical gift to the public of the Far East: on November 1, 2024, the famous opera by Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, was performed on the Primorsky Stage, dedicated to the 86th anniversary of the founding of the Primorsky Region. The title part was performed by the Mariinsky soloist Olga Maslova, one of the most brilliant performers of the part of Turandot on the world opera stage.
The Festival closed with the premiere of Gioachino Rossini’s sparkling opera buffa La Cenerentola. All three performances were sold out and received thunderous applause from the audience. The spectacular performance was presented by the Mariinsky soloists, many of whom were performing in Vladivostok for the first time: Tsvetana Omeltchuk, Isabella Andriasyan, Anna Knyazeva, Denis Zakirov, Vladimir Feliauer, Sergei Romanov, Denis Begansky, Svetlana Karpova, Klim Tikhonov, Miroslav Molchanov, Viktor Korotich, Yakov Strizhak. The premiere performances were accompanied by the Mariinsky Chamber Chorus and the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage conducted by Pavel Smelkov.
Let us remind you that this year the IX International Mariinsky Far East Festival consists of two parts. The ballet program will be taking place from November 14 to 17, 2024 on the Primorsky Stage. The audience will enjoy the premieres of the Mariinsky Theatre performed by the leading soloists of the St Petersburg ballet company: Anyuta set to music by Valery Gavrilin (November 14 and 15, 2024) and Coppélia by Leo Delibes (November 16, 2024 and November 17, 2024 at 14:00 and 19:00).
