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Kirov Orchestra
The Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre enjoys a long and distinguished history as one of the oldest musical institutions in Russia.
Founded in the 18th century during the reign of Peter the Great, the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre was known before the Revolution as the Russian Imperial Opera Orchestra. Housed in St Petersburg’s famed Mariinsky Theatre since 1860 (named in honour of Maria, wife of Emperor Alexander II), the Orchestra entered its true “golden age” in the second half of the 19th century under the musical direction of Eduard Napravnik (1839-1916). Napravnik single-handedly ruled the Imperial Theatre for more than half a century (from 1863-1916) and under his leadership, the Mariinsky Orchestra was recognised as one of the finest in Europe. He also trained a generation of outstanding conductors, developing what came to be known as “the Russian school of conducting.”
The Mariinsky Theatre was also the birthplace of numerous operas and ballets which are regarded as masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries. World premiere performances include Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar and Ruslan and Lyudmila, Borodin’s Prince Igor, Musorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Maid of Pskov, The Snow Maiden and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia, Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, Iolanta, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty and Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery (The Duenna), as well as operas by Shostakovich and ballets by Khachaturian.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was closely associated with the Mariinsky Theatre, not only conducting the Orchestra but also premiering his Fifth Symphony here, the Hamlet fantasy overture and the Sixth Symphony. Sergei Rachmaninov conducted the Orchestra on numerous occasions, including premieres of his Spring Cantata and the symphonic poem The Bells. The Orchestra also premiered music by the young Igor Stravinsky, such as his Scherzo Fantastique and the ballet The Firebird.
Throughout its history, the Mariinsky Theatre has presented works by Europe’s leading opera composers: the world premiere of Verdi’s La forza del destino, the first Russian performances of the complete Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger, Parsifal, the first Russian performances of Richard Strauss’ Elektra, Salome, Der Rosenkavalier and Berg’s Wozzeck.
By 1917 the Orchestra’s name had changed to the Royal Imperial Theatre Orchestra, and it was regarded as St Petersburg’s leading symphony orchestra. Numerous internationally famed musicians have conducted the Orchestra, among them Hans von Bulow, Felix Mottl, Felix Weingartner, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Otto Nikisch, Willem Mengelberg, Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter, Erich Kleiber, Hector Berlioz, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg.
Renamed the Kirov Opera during the Soviet era, the Orchestra continued to maintain its high artistic standards under the leadership of Yevgeny Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov. Under the leadership of Valery Gergiev, the Mariinsky Theatre has forged important relationships with the world’s greatest opera houses, among them the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the San Francisco Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and La Scala in Milan. Besides extensive touring with the Opera and Ballet Companies, the Kirov Orchestra has performed throughout the world, becoming one of the most outstanding orchestras. The success of the Orchestra’s frequent tours has created the reputation of what one journalist referred to as “the world’s first global orchestra“.
In 1998, the Orchestra made its debut tour of China, a historic first, with a performance in the Great Hall in Beijing, broadcast to fifty million people, in the presence of President Jiang Zemin. It was the first time in forty years that a Russian orchestra had played in China.
Under the baton of Valery Gergiev, the Orchestra has recorded exclusively for Phillips Classics since 1989. Since 1992 the orchestra has made 11 tours of North America including a 2006 celebration of the complete Shostakovich symphonies.
November 2006 marked the grand opening of the Kirov’s new home at the Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall. The only theatre and concert venue of its kind in Russia, the Concert Hall is on the site of the historic Set Workshop that had served the Mariinsky for over a century and created some of its most famous productions. The Concert Hall’s acoustics, the work of Yasuhisa Toyota, have brought accolades ranking it alongside the world’s finest modern concert venues such as Lucerne, Sapporo, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus and Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles.
This current North American tour includes 3 performances with Maestro Gergiev as part of Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives Series. Concerts include the Kirov Orchestra, the Kirov Opera Chorus and soloists from the Mariinsky Theatre. These performances feature famous Russian theatrical works rarely heard outside of the opera house.
Valery Gergiev
Artistic and General Director
Valery Gergiev’s inspired leadership as Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre has brought universal acclaim to this legendary institution. Together with the Kirov Opera, Ballet and Orchestra, Maestro Gergiev has toured in forty-five countries including extensive tours throughout North America, South America, Europe, China, Japan, Australia, Turkey, Jordan and Israel. This season (2007-08) he celebrates his 20th anniversary as Artistic Director as the Mariinsky Theatre celebrates its 225th season.
Maestro Gergiev is currently Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and Principal Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He is Founder and Artistic Director of the Stars of the White Nights Festival, the Moscow Easter Festival, the Gergiev Rotterdam Festival, the Mikkeli International Festival and the New Horizons Festival, a contemporary music festival in the new Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall.
Born in Moscow to Ossetian parents, Maestro Gergiev studied conducting with Ilya Musin at the Leningrad Conservatory. At age 24, he was the winner of the Herbert von Karajan Conductors’ Competition in Berlin. He made his Kirov Opera debut one year later in 1978 conducting Prokofiev’s War and Peace and in 2003 he led a considerable portion of St. Petersburg’s 300th anniversary celebration, conducted the globally televised anniversary gala attended by fifty heads of state, and opened the Carnegie Hall season with the Kirov Orchestra, the first Russian conductor to do so since Tchaikovsky conducted the first-ever concert in Carnegie Hall.
That same fall The Wall Street Journal observed, “The Mariinsky Theatre’s artistic agenda under Mr. Gergiev’s leadership has burgeoned into a diplomatic and ultimately a broadly humanistic one, on a global scale not even the few classical musicians of comparable vision approach.”
In 2006 and 2007 Maestro Gergiev brought the Mariinsky Theatre’s production of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle to the Orange County Performing Arts Center and Metropolitan Opera. At Carnegie Hall, he leads the Kirov Orchestra in 3 concerts at Carnegie Hall in December 2007, the Vienna Philharmonic in 3 concerts in March 2008 and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 1 concert in May 2008 as part of Carnegie Hall Perspectives: Valery Gergiev. These concerts tie in with his Maestro Gergiev conducting the Metropolitan Opera’s performances of Prokofiev’s War and Peace and The Gambler.
Maestro Gergiev is the recipient of the Dmitri Shostakovich Award, the Golden Mask Award, the People’s Artist of Russia, and the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award. In 2005 he won the Polar Music Prize (Sweden) for exceptional international performance and leadership and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands made Valery Gergiev a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion. In 2006, Valery Gergiev received Japan´s highest award - the Order of the Rising Sun - as well as the highest award of Valencia (Italy) - the Silver Medal. The same year he was the winner of the Herbert von Karajan prize (Germany). He is also the 2007 winner of the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour (France) and his recording won the Orphée d’or de l’Académie du disque lyrique.
He has recorded exclusively for Decca (Universal Classics), but appears also on Philips and DG labels. His vast discography includes many Russian operas (introduced to international audiences by his initiative), a cycle of Shostakovich “War Symphonies” (Nos.4-9), and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic among many others. Maestro Gergiev’s recording with the London Symphony Orchestra of Prokofiev: Complete Symphonies has won the 2007 Gramophone award for the Best Orchestral Performance.