Archive for September 2006
Amazing 17-Day Mariinsky Festival in Costa Mesa
October 6-22, 2006: Amazing Mariinsky Festival features Kirov Opera, Ballet and Orchestra. (Details below.)
October 6-22, 2006
Mariinsky Festival features Kirov Opera, Ballet and Orchestra
North American premiere of Kirov Opera’s Production of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen (Ring Cycle) Plácido Domingo stars as Siegmund in Die Walküre
Kirov Orchestra and Pacific Symphony perform gala joint concert
Vishneva, Lopatkina dance Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake
COSTA MESA, CA — The Kirov Opera, Ballet and Orchestra will begin an unprecedented 17-day residency on October 6, 2006 at the range County Performing Arts Center. The Mariinsky Festival marks the first time that the three legendary companies of the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia – led by Artistic Director Valery Gergiev – have performed together and individually in this country during a single engagement.
The Kirov Opera’s production of Richard Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) will have its North American premiere during the festival, with tenor Plácido Domingo as iegmund in Die Walküre. Other highlights include the classic Russian opera Boris Godunov, the Ballet in performances of Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet with ballerinas Diana Vishneva and Uliana Lopatkina featured in select roles and the Orchestra performing singly and jointly with Pacific Symphony.
The Mariinsky Festival is part of Celebration 2006, marking The Center’s 20th anniversary and the opening of The Center’s new venues. Performances will take place in The new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli Theater, as well as the current 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall.
Tickets are available at The Center’s Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa, by calling (714) 556-2787 or online at www.ocpac.org. For inquiries about group ticket discounts, call The Center’s Group Sales office at (714) 755-0236. The Center’s TTY number is (714) 556-2746.
HISTORY OF THE COMPANIES:
The Opera, Ballet and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, also known as the Kirov, have long and distinguished histories dating back more than 200 years. The Opera was founded in 1783, when Empress Catherine II issued an imperial edict that “Russian Theatre should be not merely for comedies and tragedies, but also for operas.” The Ballet was also formed that year. The Orchestra, one of the oldest in Russia, was founded in the 18th century by Peter the Great. All three were originally housed at the St Petersburg Bolshoi (Stone) Theatre, but all had moved to the Mariinksy Theatre by the late 1880s.
Edward Napravnik, who dedicated over half a century to the Mariinsky Theatre (1863-1916), built up a company that could perform complicated concert programs in addition to operas and ballets. Under his leadership, the Mariinsky Orchestra was ecognized 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.”
Among the many premieres performed by the Mariinsky companies over the years are the operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky, Prince Igor by Borodin, all of Tchaikovsky´s operas (Charodeika being conducted by the composer himself) and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino; the ballets Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella by Prokofiev, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker choreographed by Petipa, and Khachaturian’s Spartacus; and orchestral works including Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and Sixth symphonies, Rachmaninov’s Spring Cantata and Stravinsky’s Scherzo Fantastique.
In 1988, Valery Gergiev was elected artistic director of the Opera and in 1996 the Russian Government appointed him Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre. Soon after the city of Leningrad was renamed St. Petersburg, the Kirov Theatre (so named in Soviet times) reverted to its original title of the Mariinsky Theatre, home to the Kirov Opera, the Kirov Ballet and the Kirov Orchestra.
Under the leadership of Gergiev, the Mariinsky Theatre has forged important relationships with the world’s greatest opera houses, among them the Metropolitan Opera House, The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the San Francisco Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, La Scala in Milan. Besides extensive touring with the Opera and the Ballet companies, the Orchestra has performed throughout the world and has gained an international reputation as an outstanding orchestra. Under the baton of Gergiev, the Orchestra has recorded exclusively for Phillips Classics since 1989.
MARIINSKY FESTIVAL:
The Mariinsky Festival (October 6-22) brings the Kirov Opera, Ballet and Orchestra to the Orange County Performing Arts Center for 17 days of amazing events. More than five hundred and sixty Russians will visit Costa Mesa as all three legendary companies of the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg perform in this extraordinary Festival, part of Celebration 2006.
KIROV OPERA
The Ring Cycle
The North American premiere of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen opens the Festival on October 6 in Segerstrom Hall with the first opera in the series, Das Rheingold. The four-opera cycle continues on subsequent nights with Die Walküre starring special guest Plácido Domingo as Siegmund on October 7, Siegfried on October 9 and Götterdämmerung on October 11.
The Kirov’s production of the complete Ring Cycle premiered at the 10th International White Nights Festival in St. Petersberg, Russia in June 2003. The production concept, formed by Gergiev and set designer George Tyspin, brings elements of Russian, Caucasian and Scythian folk mythology to Wagner’s epic.
The Kirov Opera of the Mariinsky Theatre became the first foreign company to perform The Ring Cycle in Germany when it performed the production in Baden-Baden in December 2003 and January 2004. The production will be performed in Cardiff, U.K., in December 2006, before going to Lincoln Center in 2007.
In order to help audiences deepen their understanding of the complex world of Der Ring des Nibelungen, The Center’s education department has put together a series of educational events. On October 7, Désiree Mays will present “The Parallel Universes of Wagner and The Ring: Part 1,” with Part II following on October 9. Set designer George Tsypin will be among the speakers who take part in The World of The Ring Symposium on October 8.
The cast of Der Ring des Nibelungen will include Alexey Tanovitsky (Wotan, Das Rheingold), Edem Umerov (Alberich, Das Rheingold), Svetlana Volkova (Fricka, Das Rheingold), Tatiana Borodina (Freia, Das Rheingold), guest star Plácido Domingo (Siegmund, Die Walküre), Mlada Khudoley (Sieglinde, Die Walküre), Olga Sergeyeva (Brunnhilde, Die Walküre), Leonid Zakhozhaev (Siegfried, Siegfried), Vasily Gorshkov (Mime, Siegfried), Vadim Kravets (Traveller/Wotan, Siegfried), Viktor Lutsyuk (Siegfried, Götterdämmerung), Alexey Spekhov (Gunther, Götterdämmerung) and Larisa Gogolevskaya (Brunnhilde, Götterdämmerung).
Boris Godunov:
The Kirov Opera of the Mariinsky Theatre will perform the 1869 version of Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov on October 13-15 in Segerstrom Hall. Based on a historical drama by Alexander Pushkin, the seven-act opera tells the story of a Russian czar whose life is placed in jeopardy by a pretender to his throne.
The 1869 version of Godunov was originally rejected by the Kirov Opera for production, as it was felt to be raw and unpolished. Instead, the company premiered a much more Romantic version in 1872, which is the Godunov many are familiar with. Differences between the two versions include the lack of a significant female role in the 1869 original.
Valery Gergiev and stage director Victor Kramer resurrected the 1869 version in 2002, with sets by George Tsypin.
The cast of Boris Godunov will include Vladimir Ognovenko, Nikolay Putilin, Nikolay Gassiev, Alexey Steblianko, Konstantin Pluzhnikov, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Alexander Morozov, Maria Matveeva, Anastasia Kalagina, Irinia Mataeva and Olga Trifonova.
KIROV ORCHESTRA:
“Concert of Epic Proportions”
The Kirov Orchestra and conductor Valery Gergiev join with Orange County’s Pacific Symphony and conductor Carl St.Clair on October 8 in the new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for a program that will include Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, Op. 60 “Leningrad.” Called the “Concert of Epic Proportions” because of the size of the combined orchestras, the occasion will include a post-performance gala.
Written between 1942 and 1945, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements was composed as a World War II victory symphony for the New York Philharmonic. Stravinsky referred to it as his “War Symphony.”
Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, Op. 60 “Leningrad” also has war ties. Written in Leningrad while the city was under siege and first performed in 1942, the symphony was adopted as a symbol of Russian resistance to the German invasion.
Shostakovich Concerts:
The Kirov Orchestra will perform two programs of Shostakovich in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. On October 10, the Philharmonic Society presents the Orchestra, offering Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. On October 12, The Center presents the Orchestra performing Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12 and Symphony No. 14, plus Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Alexander Toradze. Valery Gergiev will conduct both nights.
Last October, the Kirov Orchestra embarked on a Gergiev-led project to commemorate 100 years since Shostakovich’s birth in 1906 by performing all 15 of the composer’s symphonies at Barbican Hall in London.
ORANGE COUNTY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Mariinsky Festival
October 6-22, 2006
October 6, 2006 – 7 p.m.
Das Rheingold*
October 7, 2006 – 6 p.m.
Die Walküre*
Starring Plácido Domingo
in the role of Siegmund
October 9, 2006 – 6 p.m.
Siegfried*
October 11, 2006 – 4 p.m.
Götterdämmerung*
Tickets: $308-$1,500 (can only be purchased as Ring Cycle)
* Free pre-performance lectures will be given inside Segerstrom Hall one hour prior to the performances.
October 8, 2006 – 5 p.m.
Orange County Performing Arts Center
presents in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
Kirov Orchestra & Orange County’s Pacific Symphony
“Concert of Epic Proportions”
Valery Gergiev & Carl St.Clair, conductors
Program to include:
Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in Three Movements
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7, Op. 60 “Leningrad”
Tickets: $100-$275
October 10, 2006 – 8 p.m.
Philharmonic Society of Orange County
presents in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
Kirov Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Program to include:
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54
Tickets: $25-$85 (Box Seats $200)
October 12, 2006 – 8 p.m.
Orange County Performing Arts Center
presents in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
Kirov Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Alexander Toradze, piano
Vocal soloists: to be announced
Program to include:
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 14
Tickets: $40-$95 (Box Seats $200)
October 13-15, 2006 – 7:30 p.m. (13th), 2 & 7:30 p.m. (14th) and 2 p.m. (15th)
Orange County Performing Arts Center
presents in Segerstrom Hall
Kirov Opera
Boris Godunov
Music: Modest Mussorgsky (1869 version)
Stage Director: Victor Kramer
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Tickets:$50-$220
October 16, 2006
Orange County Performing Arts Center
presents in Samueli Theater
Young Artists of the Kirov Opera
Act I – Russian Arias
Act II – Italian Arias
Ekaterina Semenchuk (mezzo)
Daniil Shtoda (tenor)
Metodie Bouzhor (bass)
Irina Mataeva (soprano)
Viktoria Yastrybova (soprano)
Larissa Gergiev (pianist)
Tickets: $100
October 17-19, 2006 – 7:30 p.m.
Orange County Performing Arts Center
presents in Segerstrom Hall
Kirov Ballet
Romeo and Juliet*
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography: Leonid Lavrovsky
Tickets: $25-$110
* Free pre-performance lectures will be given one hour prior to the performances.
–
October 20-22, 2006 – 7:30 p.m. (20th), 2 & 7:30 p.m. (21st) and 2 p.m.(22nd)
Orange County Performing Arts Center
presents in Segerstrom Hall
Kirov Ballet
Swan Lake*
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (1895)
Revised Choreography: Konstantin Sergeyev (1950)
Tickets: $25-$110
* Free pre-performance lectures will be given one hour prior to the performances.
Theater: Orange County Performing Arts Center
600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA