Mariinsky Orchestra

Performers

• Anastasia Kalagina, Soprano
• Mariinsky Orchestra
  Valery Gergiev, Music Director and Conductor
• Olga Borodina, Mezzo-Soprano
• Orfeón Pamplonés
  Igor Ijurra Fernández, Director
• The Choral Arts Society of Washington
  Norman Scribner, Artistic Director

Program

• MAHLER Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection"
• 
  There is no late seating for this performance. Program is approximately 1 hour, 20 minutes and will be performed without intermission.

Bios

• Anastasia Kalagina
  
  Soprano Anastasia Kalagina, a graduate of the N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, joined the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers in 1998 and has been a soloist with the Mariinsky Opera Company since 2007. She has won prizes at the China International Vocal Competition (2005), the International Rimsky-Korsakov Young Opera Singers’ Competition (2002), and the Stanisław Moniuszko International Vocal Competition (2001).
  
  At the Mariinsky Theatre, Ms. Kalagina has performed the title role in The Snow Maiden, Natasha in War and Peace, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Gilda in Rigoletto, Tebaldo in Don Carlo, Nannetta in Falstaff, Frasquita in Carmen, Susanna and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Waldvogel in Siegfried, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, and many others.

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• 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.
  
  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. 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.
  
  
  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’ 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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• Olga Borodina
  
  Olga Borodina made her highly acclaimed European debut in 1992 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, sharing the stage with Plácido Domingo in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila. This launched her international career and she has since performed regularly at the world’s major opera houses.
  
  Ms. Borodina made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in 1997, and returned for the opening night of the Met’s 1998–1999 season in Samson et Dalila. Subsequent engagements have included such major roles as Amneris in Aida, Carmen, Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri, Laura Adorno in La Gioconda, Marguerite in La damnation de Faust, and Princess Eboli in Don Carlos, as well as a recent telecast of Adriana Lecouvreur with Domingo. She is also a frequent guest at the San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera.
  
  In recital, Ms. Borodina has appeared at the Concertgebouw and all of the major venues in London, Milan, Vienna, San Francisco, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid, among others. She made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in 2001 with James Levine on the piano, and returned in 2004 and 2006, the latter for a duet recital with her husband, bass Ildar Abdrazakov. She also returned to Teatro alla Scala, Madrid, and Lisbon for recitals last season.
  
  Awarded the People’s Artist of Russia title in 2002, Ms. Borodina is a 2004 recipient of the State Prize of the Russian Federation.

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• Orfeón Pamplonés
  
  The Orfeón Pamplonés, founded in 1865, is one of Europe’s most experienced and prestigious choral institutions. It was the first choral society in Spain to incorporate women, with the establishment in 1903 of a female choir, which performed at the wedding of King Alfonso XIII. From there, it embarked on an artistic path that was unusual at that time, performing pieces never presented before in Spain, including Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Bach’s Mass in B Minor.
  
  Many distinguished conductors and composers have worked with the Orfeón throughout the years, including Maurice Ravel, Camille Saint-Saëns, Alain Lombard, Valery Gergiev, Lorin Maazel, Georges Prêtre, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, and Juanjo Mena.
  
  In the last five years, the Orfeón has performed the main works of the symphonic-choral repertoire in Spain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, and Mexico. Among the ensemble’s repertoire are Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9; Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem; Verdi’s Requiem; Mozart’s Requiem; Berlioz’s Requiem; Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung.

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• The Choral Arts Society of Washington
  
  Now celebrating its 46th season, The Choral Arts Society of Washington is one of the major choral organizations in the United States. Under the leadership of its Founder and Artistic Director Norman Scribner, Choral Arts presents its symphonic chorus of 160 professional-caliber volunteer singers in an annual season subscription series at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and other DC-area venues. The chorus has performed with leading symphony orchestras, sung under the world’s most distinguished conductors, produced 17 acclaimed recordings, toured nationally and internationally, and participated in numerous special events. Choral Arts has an impressive history of commissioning and performing new works, as well as presenting area and world premieres of outstanding contemporary music.
  
  Among its many awards and honors, Choral Arts has received The Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management (2002), the Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education (2008), the Washington Area Music Awards for Best Choral Group (1999, 2000, 2008, and 2009) and Best Classical Recording (2006), and was the first choral group to be awarded a performance grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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