Mariinsky Orchestra
The Mariinsky Orchestra 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 and housed in St. Petersburg’s famed Mariinsky Theatre since 1860, the orchestra entered its “golden age” in the second half of the 19th century under the musical direction of Eduard Nápravnik, whose leadership for more than a half century (1863–1916) secured its reputation as one of the finest in Europe.
Numerous internationally famed musicians have conducted the orchestra, among them Hans von Bülow, 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 Orchestra during the Soviet era, the ensemble maintained its high artistic standards under the leadership of Yevgeny Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov. The leadership of Valery Gergiev has enabled the theater to forge important relationships with the world’s greatest opera houses, among them The Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the San Francisco Opera; Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris; the Salzburg Festival; and Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
The success of its frequent tours has created the reputation of the ensemble as a global orchestra; since 1992, the orchestra has made 15 tours of North America, including a 2006 celebration of the complete Shostakovich symphonies, a cycle of Prokofiev’s stage works in 2008, and major works of Berlioz in February and March 2010. The 2009 and 2010 releases of the new Mariinsky Label are Shostakovich’s The Nose, Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 15, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Shchedrin’s The Enchanted Wanderer, and Stravinsky’s Les noces and Oedipus Rex.
November 2006 marked the grand opening of the Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, and 2012 will mark the opening of Mariinsky III, a new theater placed alongside the historic and fabled Mariinsky Theatre.
Valery Gergiev
Valery Gergiev’s inspired leadership as Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre since 1988 has taken Mariinsky ensembles to 45 countries and has brought universal acclaim to this legendary institution, now in its 227th season.
At home in St. Petersburg, his leadership has resulted in the new and superb Mariinsky Concert Hall, which opened in November 2006, and the Mariinsky Label, which was launched in 2009. The new Mariinsky III theater is scheduled to open in the summer of 2012 and, immediately thereafter, the original and classic Mariinsky Theatre (currently celebrating its 150th anniversary) will be renovated to bring its staging facilities to 21st-century standards.
Presently Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and the World Orchestra for Peace, Maestro Gergiev is also founder and Artistic Director of the Stars of the White Nights Festival and New Horizons Festival in St. Petersburg, the Moscow Easter Festival, Rotterdam’s Gergiev Festival, Mikkeli Music Festival, and the Red Sea Festival in Israel.
Maestro Gergiev is the recipient of a Grammy Award, the Dmitri Shostakovich Award, the Golden Mask Award, the People’s Artist of Russia award, the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Award, Sweden’s Polar Music Prize, the Netherlands’s Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Valencia’s Silver Medal, the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize, and French Order of the Legion of Honor.
Although now recording for the Mariinsky and LSO Live labels, Valery Gergiev also has recorded extensively for Decca (Universal Classics), and appears on the Philips and Deutsche Grammophon labels.
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