The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre presents its December program, to close out the year 2025. The playbill features opera classics, ballet masterpieces, and special events, including festival evenings and premieres. A series of festive New Year’s performances will culminate the month, creating a faerie atmosphere for audiences of all ages.
The International Mariinsky Far East Festival will come as the centerpiece of the month; from December 11 to 14, 2025, ballet masterpieces will be presented on stage featuring principal dancers and soloists from St Petersburg. The program will open with two nights (December 11 and 12, 2025) dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the great ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. Gala concert. Carmen Suite will be performed featuring three brilliant principal dancers of the Mariinsky Theatre: Ekaterina Kondaurova, Renata Shakirova, and Maria Iliushkina. On December 13, 2025, audiences will be treated to a colorful festive performance of Don Quixote, and on December 14, 2025, the Oriental fairytale A Thousand and One Nights will be presented featuring Mariinsky Theatre prima Renata Shakirova.
xThe first opera premiere of the season, The Story of Kai and Gerda by Sergei Banevich based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, will come as another Primorsky Stage’s grand event of the month. This production is intended for the whole family and combines musical depth and theatrical magic. Performances will take place on December 25 and 26, 2025 in the Great Hall under the baton of conductor Mikhail Leontiev.
The month’s repertoire program will open with the opera Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini (December 3, 2025), a poignant drama about fragile love, cultural clashes, and irreparable loss. Anastasiya Kikot, Mingiyan Odzhaev, Tatiana Makarchuk, and Nikita Odalin will be starring.
On December 4, 2025, the connoisseurs will enjoy Swan Lake as part of the “Tchaikovsky – 185” cycle. Conveying choreographic perfection and musical depth, this production will be conducted by Vitaly Shevelev and will feature Anna Samostrelova, Alexei Golubov, and Erlanbek Bayguttuev.
On December 5, 2025, the operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II will take the stage, a vibrant musical spectacle full of intrigue, masquerades, and romantic misunderstandings. On December 6, 2025, the ballet La fille mal gardée set to music by Louis Herold will be performed twice (at 14:00 and 19:00). This light pastoral comedy has become a classic of the genre. On the same day, the Chamber Hall will host two performances (at 12:00 and 15:00) of The Little Prince by Leonid Klinichev, a philosophical operatic parable about friendship, responsibility, and seeing the world through a child’s eyes.
On December 7, 2025, the Great Hall will present Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, a flamboyant, colorful production filled with magic, wonder, and patriotic pathos. The Theatre’s leading soloists, conducted by Waleriy Trubin-Leonoff, will portray Tsar Saltan, Tsaritsa Militrisa, Tsarevich (Prince) Guidon, and the Nutcracker Squirrel.
As part of the “Tchaikovsky – 185” cycle, a series of performances of The Nutcracker will begin on December 17, 2025. Performances will be held almost daily until the end of the year, including a festive meeting with Grandfather Frost and Snegurochka in the Theatre foyer before each performance. The lead parts in these productions will be performed by Irina Sapozhnikova, Lada Sartakova, Anna Samostrelova, Lilia Berezhnova, Arina Borovykh (Nagase), Shizuru Kato, Denis Klepikov, Sergei Amanbaev, Alexei Golubov, and Razmik Marukyan. Conductors: Dušan Vilić and Vitaly Shevelev.
On December 18, 2025, Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore, a drama about love, revenge, and a fatal misunderstanding, will be performed, starring Samira Galimova, Laura Bustamante, Sayan Isin, and Sergey Krylov. On the same day, the Chamber Hall will host Gennady Gladkov’s Town Musicians of Bremen, a musical fantasia that has become a cult classic for several generations of theatre-goers.
In the final days of the year (December 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31, 2025), the Theatre will continue to create a festive atmosphere for audiences. The Chamber Hall will host performances of Town Musicians of Bremen and The Little Prince. Theatrical concerts “New Year’s Lights” will also set up a special atmosphere for people of all ages.
