The Mariinsky Orchestra (Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre)

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, it was known before the revolution as the Russian Imperial Opera Orchestra. Housed in St. Petersburg´s famed Mariinsky Theatre (named after Maria, the wife of Czar Alexander II) since 1860, the Orchestra entered its true "golden age" during the second half of the 19th century under the music 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 recognized 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 meanwhile regarded as masterpieces of the 19th and 20th century. World premiere performances include Glinka´s Life of a Tsar and Ruslan and Liudmila, Borodin´s Prince Igor, Musorgsky´s Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Rimsky-Korsakov´s Maid of Pskov, The Snow Maiden and Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, Tchaikovsky´s The Queen of Spades, Iolanta, Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, Prokofiev´s The Duenna, as well as operas by Shostakovich and ballets by Khachaturian.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was closely associated with the Mariinsky Theatre, not only conducting the orchestra but also premiering his Fifth Symphony there, as well as the fantasy overture Hamlet and the Sixth Symphony. Sergey Rakhmaninov conducted the Orchestra on numerous occasions, including premieres of his Spring Cantata and the symphonic poem The Bells. The Orchestra also premiered the music of the young Igor Stravinsky, such as his Scherzo Fantastique and the suite from The Firebird ballet.
Throughout its history, the Mariinsky Theatre has presented works by Europe´s leading opera composers. In 1862, Verdi´s La Forza del Destino was given its world premiere at the theatre in the presence of the composer. Wagner was a favorite at the Mariinsky Theatre, where his operas were frequently performed from the 19th through the beginning of the 20th century, including the first Russian performances of the complete Ring cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger and Parsifal. The Ring cycle was conducted by Hans Richter, who was the first to conduct the complete Ring in Bayreuth and at Covent Garden.
The Mariinsky Orchestra also gave the first Russian performances of Richard Strauss´ Elektra, Salome and Der Rosenkavalier, and Berg´s Wozzeck in a production that took place two years after its world premiere in Berlin and twenty years before its premiere in Vienna.
By 1917 the orchestra´s name had changed to the Royal Imperial Theatre Orchestra, and was regarded as St. Petersburg´s leading symphony orchestra. Its repertoire - operatic and orchestral - has traditionally included not only music of Russian composers, but also of European composers. Numerous internationally famous musicians conducted the Orchestra, among them Hans von Bulow, Felix Mottl, Felix Weingartner, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Otto Nikisch, Willem Mengelberg, Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter and Erich Kleiber.
On two occasions, in 1847 and 1867, Hector Berlioz conducted performances of his own works, including The Damnation of Faust, Romeo and Juliet, Symphony Fantastique and Harold in Italy. Berlioz wrote in his memoirs "Such an orchestra! Such precision! Such an ensemble!". And in a letter dated December 1867, he stated: "I don´t think Beethoven ever had a better performance of his compositions!" In March and April 1863, Richard Wagner visited St. Petersburg and led the Royal Imperial Theatre Orchestra in six programs of Beethoven Symphonies and his own compositions, including the world´s first concert performance of Prelude und Liebestod. Gustav Mahler appeared with the Orchestra in both 1902 and 1907, conducting five concerts, including a performance of his Fifth Symphony. In 1912, Arnold Schoenberg conducted the premiere of his symphonic poem Pelleas and Melisande.
Renamed the Kirov Opera during the Soviet era, the orchestra continued to maintain its high artistic standards under the leadership of Evgeni Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov. In 1988, Valery Gergiev was elected artistic director of the opera company and in 1996 the Russian Government appointed him as Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre. Soon after the city of Leningrad was renamed St. Petersburg, the Kirov Theatre 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 Valery Gergiev, the Mariinsky Theatre has forged important relationships with the worlds´ greatest opera houses, among them the Metropolitan Opera House, London´s Royal Opera House, the San Francisco Opera, the Theatre Chatelet in Paris La Scala in Milan just to name a few. Besides extensive touring of the opera and the ballet company, the Kirov Orchestra has performed throughout world and has become one of the outstanding orchestras. The success of the orchestra´s continual travelling has lead to the reputation of, what a journalist called, "the world´s first global orchestra".
In 1998, the orchestra made its debut tour of China, an historic first, with a performance in the Great Hall in Beijing, broadcast to 50 million people, in the presence of President Jiang Zemin. It was the first time in 40 years that a Russian orchestra had been in China.
Under the baton of Valery Gergiev, the orchestra has recorded exclusively for Phillips Classics since 1989. Releases include the complete operas Khovanshchina, War and Peace, Sadko, Prince Igor, The Queen of Spades, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Iolanta, Fiery Angel (winner of the 1996 Gramophone "Opera of the Year´ award), La forza del destino, Boris Godunov (1869 and 1872 version), Mazeppa, Betrothal in the Monastery, Love for Three Oranges and Semyen Kotko. In addition the orchestra recorded the complete ballets Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.
In July 2000, the orchestra and chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre recorded Verdi´s Requiem and other releases of orchestral music include Shostakovich´s Symphony No 8, Rakhmaninov´s Symphony No2, Stravinsky´s Firebird¦and The Rite of Spring, Skriabin´s Poem of Ecstasy and Prometheus as well as the complete Piano Concerti by Prokofiev.

 

Valery Gergiev, Artistic & General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre
Graduated in symphony conducting from the Leningrad Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire (class of Professor Musin). At age 23, he won the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin and, while still a student at the Conservatoire, was invited to join the Kirov Theatre.

Conducted at the Kirov Theatre from 1977. From 1981-85, he was also Principal Guest Conductor with the State Symphony Orchestra of Armenia.

At the age of 35, Valery Gergiev was appointed Artistic Director of the Opera Company and, from 1996, has been Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Throughout his years of dedication to the theatre, the Maestro´s main aim has always been to make the Mariinsky Opera Company the best in the world. Over the last fifteen years, the repertoire has undergone unprecedented development. The Mariinsky Theatre has staged operas including Mozart´s Don Giovanni, Musorgsky´s The Sorochinsky Fair, Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Verdi´s Otello, Aida, La forza del destino, Don Carlos, Macbeth, Un ballo in maschera and La traviata, Prokofiev´s Fiery Angel, The Gambler, War and Peace, Betrothal in a Monastery and Semyon Kotko, Rimsky-Korsakov´s The Maid of Pskov, Sadko, Kashchei the Immortal, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maid Fevronia and The Tsar´s Bride, Shostakovich´s Katerina Ismailova, Strauss´ Salome and Tchaikovsky´s Mazepa, The Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin. The return of Wagner´s operas Lohengrin, Parsifal and Der Fliegende Holländer to the St Petersburg stage are among some of the highlights, to say nothing of the production of the entire Der Ring des Nibelungen tetralogy of Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Die Götterdämmerung in the original German, a unique and unprecedented event in Russia. In the recent 2004-2005 season alone, the Mariinsky Opera Company presented seven premieres - Rimsky-Korsakov´s The Tsar´s Bride and The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Puccini´s Madama Butterfly, Bizet´s Carmen, Verdi´s Rigoletto, Rossini´s Il viaggio a Reims and Wagner´s Tristan und Isolde. Valery Gergiev is the founder and artistic director of many international music festivals including For Peace in the Caucasus (Vladikavkaz), the Mikkeli Festival (Finland), the Red Sea Festival (Eilat), the Kirov Philharmonic (London), the Rotterdam Philharmonic-Gergiev Festival (the Netherlands) and the Moscow Easter Festival. He organised and ran a Musorgsky Festival (1988), a Prokofiev Festival (1991, 1992), presenting a wide spectrum of the composer´s works including four opera premieres (War and Peace, Love for Three Oranges, The Gambler and []iFiery Angel), several symphonies and cantata-oratory works, and a Rimsky-Korsakov in the 20th Century festival (1994), which had a great influence on world musical culture. Lastly, of course, Valery Gergiev is also the inspiration and energy behind St Petersburg´s annual Stars of the White Nights festival, which he established in 1993.

In the 2004-2005 season, Valery Gergiev initiated a world-wide series of charity concerts entitled Beslan. Music for Life. Under the Maestro´s direction, concerts were held in New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Rome and Moscow.

It was Valery Gergiev who first envisaged artistic co-operation between the Mariinsky Theatre and the world´s leading opera houses, among them the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, the Teatro Carlo Felice, the San Francisco Opera, La Scala, the New Israeli Opera and the Théâtre du Châtelet. Valery Gergiev is one of the finest conductors of our time. He works with such renowned ensembles as the Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), L´Orchestre National de France, Swedish Radio Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Minnesota, Montreal and Birmingham. He has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic since 1995 and of the Metropolitan Opera from 1997 to 2002. From 1 January 2007 Valery Gergiev will be Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Under Valery Gergiev´s management, the Mariinsky Theatre has toured extensively, performing to great acclaim in countries all over Europe, in North and South America, China, Japan and Australia. The Mariinsky Theatre´s summer tours to London have long since become a tradition. The most recent performances by the Mariinsky Theatre on the famed stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, took place in July and August 2005. The tour began with performances of ballets in the classical repertoire as well as one of the theatre´s latest acquisitions - the ballets of William Forsythe. The opera company staged performances of Musorgsky´s Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov and Puccini´s Turandot before the London public.

Special mention must be made of the now long established partnership between Maestro Gergiev and Philips, which has resulted in the production of over thirty compact disc recordings.

Together with the Mariinsky Theatre and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras, he has conducted recordings of operas, ballets and concert programmes from his vast repertoire which includes works by Russian and non-Russian composers alike, among them Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Bizet, Berlioz, Verdi, Brahms and Bruckner.

Maestro Gergiev´s artistic achievements have brought him many awards and titles. He holds the titles of Honoured Worker for the Arts of Russia (1983) and People´s Artist of Russia (1996). In the same year, the jury of the International Classical Music Awards conferred upon him the title of Conductor of the Year. He was awarded the State Prize of Russia in 1994 and 1999. As Best Conductor, he was awarded the Russia´s highest theatre prize Golden Mask (1996 -2000) and the St Petersburg´s highest theatre prize Golden Sophit, in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. In 1998, Philips Electronics awarded him a special prize for his outstanding contribution to music, which he donated to the development of the Mariinsky Theatre Academy of Young Singers. In 2000, Valery Gergiev was made a full member of the International Academy of Arts. In the same year, he was awarded the highest prizes of Russia - the Order of Friendship and Armenia - the Order of St Mesrop Mashtots. Maestro Gergiev has also been decorated with Germany´s Bundesverdienstkreuz (first class), Italy´s Grand Ufficiale al Merito and France´s L´Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2002, he received the Russian Presidential Prize for his outstanding contribution to arts and sciences.

In March 2003, he was made an Artist of the World by UNESCO. In April 2003, was decorated with the order For Services to the Fatherland, third class. In June 2003, the Patriarch of All Russia Alexei II awarded Valery Gergiev the Order of St Prince Daniil of Moscow of the Russian Orthodox Church, third class, for participating in charitable and cultural programmes of the Russian Orthodox Church. Awarded the medal In Commemoration of the Tercentenary of St Petersburg. In November 2003, Valery Gergiev was presented with the National Pride of Russia award in the category For an outstanding contribution to cultural development and Russia´s highest public award For Work and the Fatherland.Valery Gergiev has been awarded the Crystal Prize for his dedication to the arts and his contribution to cultural dialogue; the prize was presented by the World Economic Forum in Davos. In April 2004, Valery Gergiev was made a People´s Artist of Ukraine, the country´s highest State award, in recognition of his "important contribution to the development of cultural relations between Ukraine and Russia and his many years of fruitful activity". Valery Gergiev has also been awarded the Order of Danaker, presented by the Government of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.

In September 2005 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands made Valery Gergiev a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion. As the royal decree proclaimed, the Russian musician received this eminent Dutch award for his exceptional character, international importance and his worldwide activities in music. In November 2005 Valery Gergiev has been awarded the Polar Music Prize of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music for his "unique, electrifying musicianship, which becomes ever richer with time and makes us re-examine our attitudes to a great tradition". In February 2006 - has been awarded the Herbert von Karajan Prize, which was founded by the Baden-Baden Music Festival - Valery Gergiev was named "one of the most important cultural figures of our age". In March 2006 Valery Gergiev has been awarded a prize by the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation for his outstanding contribution to the development of cultural relations between Russia and the USA. In May 2006 Valery Gergiev has been awarded the Order of Yaroslav the Wise, 5th Class, "for his significant personal contribution to the development of cultural relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, his true professionalism and long and successful career in arts" and was awarded the Commanders´ Order of the Lion of Finland - Finnish President Tarja Halonen awarded the Maestro with this national award for his outstanding contribution to developing musical culture in Finland and strengthening Russo-Finnish cultural relations.