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 225th 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.
