No. 2, 2008

Next July Russia's Mariinsky Theater will mark its 225th anniversary

The Mariinsky Theater is an emblem of St. Petersburg. For over two centuries Russia’s oldest music theater has been an academy of the national operatic and ballet art. LUKOIL cherishes Russia’s cultural heritage and is doing all it can to support one of the world’s top theaters.

The theater’s glorious past

The official birth date of Russia’s largest and oldest opera and ballet theater is July 12, 1783. That was when Empress Catherine II signed a decree establishing in St. Petersburg a Grand Theater company to perform operas and ballets.

In 1860 the theater moved to its present building (rebuilt after a fire) and was given a new name – Mariinsky Theater.

In 1920, the theater was renamed and became known as the State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet. In 1935, it was named after one of the Soviet leaders Sergey Kirov. In 1992, the theater got back its original name – Mariinsky. During its early history the theater staged operas by Russian composers Vassily Pashkevich and Mikhail Sokolovsky; in 1815, it produced Ivan Susanin, an opera by Catterino Cavos; staged for the first time in Russia were Mozart’s The Magic Flute (1818), Rossini’s Cinderella, The Barber of Seville and Semiramide (1821-1823), Weber’s The Free Shooter (1824), Bellini’s Norma and Somnambula (1837) and The Puritans (1840), Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1840), etc.

The premieres of Glinka’s Life for the Czar (1836) and Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842) were signal events in the history of Russian music. From 1829 on, the stage of the Mariinsky Theater was dominated by an Italian troupe which included such outstanding singers as Rubini, Viardot-Garcia, Tamburini, Giulia Grisi, Lablache and Mario.

It was only in the second half of the 1850s that a Russian troupe resumed its performances, the most notable of which was Dargomyzhsky’s opera Mermaid (1856). It was with the premiere of Life for the Czar that the Mariinsky Theater’s productions opened in its new building in 1860 (Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater continued to be dominated by the Italian troupes until 1886).

Mariinsky Theater stars

The great voices of the past – Feodor Chaliapin, Ivan Yershov, Nikolay Figner, Leonid Sobinov and Felia Litvin – sang on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Later on its stars included: Nikolai Pechkovsky, Sofya Preobrazhenskaya, Mark Reizen and Georgy Nelepp. The Mariinsky Theater has always deeply respected the classical tradition. At the same time, the 20th century saw productions which marked a new approach to the esthetics of the operatic art. New vistas of theatrical scene painting were demonstrated to the world by Alexander Benoit, Konstantin Korovin, Alexander Golovin and Valentin Serov. It was also at the Mariinsky Theater that Vsevolod Meyerhold presented his famous stage productions, which still fascinate the world.

Such outstanding singers as Pyotr Bulakhov, Yelizaveta Sandunova, Anna Petrova (nee Vorobyova) and Osip Petrov appeared on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries they were followed by F.I. Stravinsky, Yershov, Zbruyeva, Litvin, Chaliapin, Medeya and Nikolay Figner, Sobinov and some others. Later on the opera stars included: Andreyev, Petrauskas, Gorskaya, Preobrazhenskaya, Shtokolov and Kovalyova.

Many great musicians worked for the imperial Mariinsky Theater at different times. For instance, the theater staged many of the works by Tchaikovsky. An eminent place among foreign composers belongs to Richard Wagner. His operas still figure prominently in the theater’s repertory. At one time he was even officially offered the post of the theater’s chief conductor. However, for various reasons, he had to decline the offer. It was especially for the Mariinsky Theater that Giuseppe Verdi composed his opera The Force of Destiny, and he attended its first-night presentation.

However, the renown of the great Russian theater is not confined to the past. In our time, such brilliant opera singers as Borodina, Gorchakova, Prokina, Tsydypova, Dyadkova, Chernov, Putilin, Morozov, Galuzin and many others have gained world recognition. The theater’s celebrities also include such famous conductors as Lyadov, Napravnik, Coates, Kuper, Malko, Pokhitonov, Dranishnikov, Gauk, Pazovsky, Khaikin, Temirkanov and, of course, Valery Gergiev who has been the art director and chief conductor since 1988.

The Mariinsky opera troupe often went on tour of other countries, and its guest performances invariably drew an enthusiastic response both from the audiences and critics. Especially noted were its productions of Salome and Othello, Prokofiev’s The Gambler, and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

Its present-day renown

The Mariinsky Theater presently enjoys the sponsorship and support of the leading Russian oil and gas company, LUKOIL. In September 2003, fire destroyed part of the theater’s scenery workshops, and the company financed the construction of a new concert hall. Today, the theater’s troupe can again perform in the renovated building. In October 2007, the Mariinsky Theater went on a grand, truly unprecedented tour of Vienna. The Austrian press was unanimous in praising the excellent performance of the Mariinsky orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev, whom it called “the tireless engine of the Mariinsky Theater.” For the ten days that the Mariinsky troupe played to full houses at the Theater an der Wien, the demanding Austrian public was presented with Prokofiev’s opera The Gambler – one of the premieres of the previous season, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Also, the Mariinsky orchestra gave several symphony concerts at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and at the Franz-Liszt-Saal in Graz.

Memorable events of 2007 were the performances given by the opera troupe, orchestra and choir of the Mariinsky Theater between November 29 and

December 4 in the United States. Within three concert performances given on December 1, 2 and 4 the Mariinsky orchestra, choir and soloists presented at New York’s famous Carnegie Hall the masterpieces of Russian music: Act One of Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila, Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden, Act Two of Borodin’s Prince Igor, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and The Wedding.

During the 2007-2008 season at Carnegie Hall, in a concert series called “Perspectives,” Valery Gergiev will present a program in which he conducts the famous Orchestra of the Vienna Philharmonic. The series will also feature Prokofiev’s War and Peace and The Gambler played at the Metropolitan Opera. The American public responded with gratitude to the Mariinsky Theater troupe which performed the best Russian opera and classical music pieces composed during two centuries.

The repertory of the Mariinsky Theater includes the best of classical operas. In recent years it has carried out joint projects with the world’s largest opera theaters – the Covent Garden, Opera de Bastille, La Scala, La Fenice and those of Tel Aviv and San Francisco.

On February 27, 2008, a festive meeting was held at the Mariinsky Theater devoted to its 225th anniversary. The meeting was attended by the President Putin and the Governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matviyenko. The leading opera and ballet soloists, the pride of the Mariinsky Theater and Russian culture, performed on the stage that evening. They included: Vladimir Galuzin, Ulyana Lopatkina, Nikolay Putilin, Anna Netrebko, Leonid Sarafanov, Mikhail Petrenko, Andrian Fadeyev, Victoria Teryoshkina, Danila Korsuntsev, Alina Somova, Olesya Novikova and, of course, the theater’s celebrated orchestra and choir. The festive meeting was part of the jubilee celebrations which will culminate in the 16th White Nights International Festival to be held from May 11 to July 20, 2008.

Years pass, but the productions of the Mariinsky Theater continue to fascinate audiences of art lovers all over the world. The theater’s art director Valery Gergiev said: “Our mission is to find the way to the hearts of our audience and demonstrate to the world the grandeur and incomparable beauty of Russian culture.”