The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre is preparing for the opening ceremony of the All-Russian theatre marathon. On February 28, 2026, the 32nd season of the Golden Mask Festival and National Theatre Award will be launched here, in Vladivostok. The honor of opening the prestigious event has fallen on Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il trovatore staged by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev.
The production was premiered at the Great Hall of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre on May 23 and 25, 2025. The first performances featured opera soloists of the Primorsky Stage such as Samira Galimova, Alena Diyanova, Sayan Isin, Laura Bustamante, Tatiana Makarchuk, Alexei Repin, César Méndez, Yevgeny Plekhanov, Bat-Erdene Dorjtseden, Viktoria Kangina, and Elena Glushenko.
In October 2025, the opera was included in the program of the X International Mariinsky Far East Festival, Vladivostok. It was performed by opera soloists and the Chorus of the Primorsky Stage and the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev’s baton.
“Our performance as well as the opera itself is in the classic style. (…) By the way, the opera has a very emotional structure, so another important aim is to bring the emotion closer to contemporary realities. This is exactly why people come to the theatre! Besides, the production set design promises to be exciting and entrancing, given today’s vivid and intense visual context. Together with the Set Designer Pyotr Okunev, we have tried to create a bright, beautiful and emotional Italian opera,” the Stage Director Vyacheslav Starodubtsev said before the premiere.
Concise yet expressive colors are used in the scenery. Based on sketches by the Chief Designer of the Theatre Pyotr Okunev, the costumes were made at the workshops of the Primorsky Stage.
“In this production, we aimed at achieving a maximal effect with minimal tools. That is, using a minimum of visuals, we tried to stress the entire drama of the plot, music and mood which it contains,” said Pyotr Okunev.
The opening of the new season of the Golden Mask Festival and National Theatre Award is of particular significance both for the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre and for the whole Far East cultural community. The inclusion of the production in the Festival program means recognition of the high artistic level of the Primorsky Stage and its integration into the national theatrical context. To take part in the Golden Mask Festival means to be among the best performances of the season, to be reviewed by Russian leading theatre critics and to make itself known at the level of the Russian main national theatre award.
68 performances from across the country are totally nominated for the Award in the 32nd season. 12 of them will be regionally presented, emphasizing the geographical scope and democratic nature of the Festival. The Moscow program of the Festival will begin on March 10, 2026 and last until June 10, 2026 roughly.
On February 28, 2026, the really star-studded cast will appear on the Vladivostok stage, including Samira Galimova, Laura Bustamante, Sayan Isin, Alexei Repin, and Yevgeny Plekhanov. Pavel Smelkov will stand on the conductor’s podium.
