News

From 2 to 13 April the Mariinsky Theatre will present the 9^th International Flute and Harp Music Festival Virtuosi of the Flute & Northern Lyre, initiated by Denis Lupachev and Sofia Kiprskaya. A rich and diverse programme awaits the public: premieres written specifically for the festival, masterpieces of the world repertoire, and works that will receive their Russian premieres. Top musicians from Russia, China, Hungary, France, Belarus and Spain will demonstrate their mastery.

The artists invite listeners to embark on a musical journey, to hear music from around the world and to discover unique instruments: the medieval hurdy-gurdy, the Japanese koto and Khakas national instruments of ancient storytellers – the chatkhan, khobyrakh and khomys.

Before the festival, on 30 March, the Rachmaninoff Hall will host a children’s concert where talented young musicians will share a spring mood. On 2 and 13 April gala programmes featuring the Mariinsky Orchestra, conducted by Christian Knapp and Arseny Shuplyakov, will fill the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre.

5 April will feature a concert in memory of the outstanding Japanese harpist and patron Yoko Nagae Ceschina. Valery Gergiev will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra. On 7 April the new Stravinsky Hall at Mariinsky-2 will host the Musical Klondike concert, and on 11 April the Concert Hall will present Ethno-Tale with multi-instrumentalists.

The festival programme also includes chamber concerts by flute virtuosi: Ma Yong (Shanghai) will perform at the Concert Hall on 5 April, and Vincent Lucas (Paris) will play at the Rachmaninoff Hall on 12 April.

The festival will also feature open masterclasses by renowned musicians, allowing the public to meet future flute and harp virtuosi.

The Genius of Place festival, a musical homage to great Russian composers, is set to return. This year, from 20 to 23 March, Valery Gergiev and the combined forces of Russia’s two leading musical theatres – the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi – will perform in the birthplaces of Modest Musorgsky (Pskov), Sergei Rachmaninoff (Veliky Novgorod) and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Tikhvin).

The musical tributes will begin in Pskov, with four events scheduled over two days at the Pskov Regional Philharmonic’s Grand Concert Hall. 20 March will be dedicated to the Mariinsky for Children project. Soloists from the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers will present short operas for young listeners, accompanied by piano. At 15:00 Sergei Banevich’s The Brave Hare will be performed, followed by Gennady Gladkov’s musical fantasy Town Musicians of Bremen at 18:00.

On 21 March, on Modest Musorgsky’s birthday, a combined symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, conducted by Valery Gergiev, will appear at 15:00 on the stage of the Pskov Regional Philharmonic’s Grand Concert Hall. At 19:00 maestro Gergiev will return to the podium for a gala concert featuring opera soloists. The programme will include works by Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin.

The following day, 22 March, the company will travel to Veliky Novgorod to pay musical tribute to Sergei Rachmaninoff. The morning concert will feature a combined symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, conducted by Valery Gergiev, playing the Symphonic Dances and the Second Piano Concerto.

The evening of 22 March will feature a performance in Tikhvin, the birthplace of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. At 18:30 the Rimsky-Korsakov Palace of Culture will host the composer’s quintessential spring fairytale, the beautiful Russian opera The Snow Maiden. The performance will feature soloists, the Mariinsky Chorus and supernumeraries and a combined symphony orchestra of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, conducted by Valery Gergiev.

On 23 March at 15:00 the Regimental Church will host a chamber vocal concert with piano accompaniment, featuring soloists from the Mariinsky Opera Company. At 18:00 the Rimsky-Korsakov Palace of Culture will host another performance of The Snow Maiden, once again conducted by Valery Gergiev.

Last season maestro Gergiev and artists from the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres visited the birthplaces of five great Russian composers, presenting their works in nearly thirty concerts and performances. Concerts and productions, where the combined creative forces of Russia’s two leading stages appear, traditionally sell out. The Genius of Place festival is one of the most eagerly awaited events of spring, for artists and audiences alike.

The Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres are set to welcome spring with a series of major events, including their most extensive exchange programme in recent years. Wagner’s monumental Der Ring des Nibelungen will travel to Moscow, where it will be presented twice on the Bolshoi Theatre’s Historic Stage. In return the Bolshoi Theatre will bring its acclaimed production of Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims to St Petersburg, followed by the ballet The Master and Margarita, set to music by Schnittke and Lazar. Later in the month, the two companies will join forces for performances in Tikhvin, the birthplace of Rimsky-Korsakov, and Pskov, where they will honour the legacy of Musorgsky.

The first cycle of Der Ring des Nibelungen will take place at the Bolshoi Theatre from 5 to 9 March, with the second cycle following from 13 to 16 March. Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre forces will present newly revitalised stagings of the operas, featuring striking lighting design and breathtaking sets that match the grandeur of Wagner’s vision. One of the highlights of the March programme will be concerts by a combined symphony orchestra drawn from both theatres, conducted by Valery Gergiev. These concerts will take place on the Bolshoi Theatre’s Historic Stage on 11 and 12 March.

St Petersburg’s March calendar also boasts a wealth of unique events. On 1 March the chamber Prokofiev Hall will host the premiere of Rustam Sagdiev’s opera for children, Ayoga. From 4 to 8 March audiences can experience a new run of performances of Verdi’s Aida, staged by the renowned Italian director Giancarlo del Monaco. This production is a visual feast, featuring monumental ten-metre-high columns, imposing nine-metre statues, four hundred costumes, one hundred shields, one hundred masks and a vast array of props.

From 14 to 16 March St Petersburg audiences will have the opportunity to see the Bolshoi Theatre’s production of Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, a co-production with the Dutch National Opera, the Royal Danish Theatre and Opera Australia. This vibrant production, which has graced the Bolshoi Theatre’s stage since 2018, is renowned for its striking and unconventional scenography.

Throughout March various Mariinsky stages will host events celebrating composers born in this month: Bach, Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov. The Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble will also give concerts. On 5 March Alexander Klyuchko, 1^st prize and Gold Medal winner at the Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists, Composers and Conductors, will perform works by Chopin.

St Petersburg audiences can also look forward to exceptional ballet performances featuring international stars. Highlights include Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, Minkus’ Don Quixote, Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Glazunov’s Raymonda, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Yarullin’s Shurale and Delibes’ Coppélia. Principal roles will be performed by Viktoria Tereshkina, Roman Belyakov, Renata Shakirova, Kimin Kim, Oxana Skorik, Andrei Yermakov, Nadezhda Batoeva, Timur Askerov, Ekaterina Kondaurova and Olesya Novikova. On 5 and 11 March the Mariinsky Theatre will present ballets choreographed by Michel Fokine, featuring a stellar cast of dancers, including Ekaterina Kondaurova, Andrei Yermakov, Philipp Stepin, Diana Vishneva, Oxana Skorik and Timur Askerov.

The Mariinsky Theatre will resonate with some of the finest voices in the world throughout March. Ekaterina Semenchuk will sing the title role in Puccini’s Turandot. On 10 March a concert featuring laureates of the International Glinka Competition of Vocalists will take place, with Albina Shagimuratova among the performers. The following day the brilliant Hibla Gerzmava will star as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello. The renowned Italian baritone Ambrogio Maestri returns to the Mariinsky Theatre in March to sing the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff on two occasions. A rare treat for opera lovers, Massenet’s Werther, will be presented in concert on 22 March, with Ekaterina Semenchuk and Najmiddin Mavlyanov in the leading roles.

At the end of the month the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres will once again join forces. Following tradition, Valery Gergiev will lead artists from both companies on a pilgrimage to Tikhvin, the birthplace of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and to Pskov, where they will perform works by Modest Musorgsky. These annual concerts and performances, featuring artists from both companies, are always eagerly anticipated and guarantee a warm reception from audiences and performers alike.

The Mariinsky Theatre is set to unveil a fascinating rarity – scenes from Modest Musorgsky’s unfinished opera Salammbô. This early work, a captivating glimpse into the composer’s burgeoning genius, receives its premiere on the Mariinsky Theatre’s New Stage on 22 and 23 February (at 13:00 and 19:00).

Musorgsky embarked on Salammbô at the tender age of twenty-four, right at the start of his professional journey. Composed between 1863 and 1866, it offers a compelling insight into his lifelong preoccupation with themes of national identity and his extraordinary ability to weave a grand historical narrative through the personal struggles of individuals.

The opera draws its inspiration from Gustave Flaubert’s eponymous novel, which chronicles the conflict between Carthage and its rebellious mercenary army. Musorgsky adapted and expanded upon Flaubert’s plot, envisioning a four-act opera. However, the work’s path was fraught with challenges from the outset. Lacking support from his fellow composers in the Mighty Handful, Musorgsky eventually abandoned the project, leaving behind a tantalising collection of incomplete musical fragments.

The resurrection of this operatic rarity is largely due to the Mariinsky Theatre’s commitment to championing lesser-known works. In 1989 the theatre commissioned the renowned St Petersburg composer Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn to create a performing edition of the opera. This edition incorporates numbers orchestrated by Musorgsky himself, along with orchestrations by Rimsky-Korsakov and Vissarion Shebalin. In 1991 the edition was expanded to include several related works by Musorgsky, and the Mariinsky Theatre presented this version later that year at the atmospheric setting of the ancient Roman amphitheatre in Mérida, Spain.

Now, in 2025, scenes from Salammbô will be presented at the Mariinsky Theatre in a new production by stage director Sergei Novikov, with evocative designs by Rostislav Protasov. This production was recently acclaimed at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, where it received two successful performances in late 2024.

“This was a fascinating challenge for me as a director,” says Novikov. “We had to weave together these disparate musical fragments to create a coherent narrative. To achieve this, we introduced a narrator, Hamilcar, the ruler of Carthage and father of Salammbô. This role is performed by the esteemed actor Vladimir Steklov, People’s Artist of Russia. We also added a duet for Salammbô and her spiritual mentor, Shahabarim, drawing on musical sketches that Musorgsky later developed into the duet for Marina Mnisheck and Rangoni in Boris Godunov.”

Novikov’s production reveals a lesser-known facet of Musorgsky’s genius – his capacity for profound lyricism. The opera poignantly captures the emotional turmoil of a young woman torn between love and duty.

The production interweaves historical and battle scenes with captivating mythological narratives, including the theft of sacred fish and the legend of the Zaïmph, the sacred veil of the goddess Tanit, believed to protect Carthage from harm. Protasov’s designs reflect the interplay between the earthly and the celestial through striking colour contrasts, shimmering gold accents in the costumes and sets, flowing fabrics and opulent brocades.

On 9 February, the birthday of Honoured Artist of Russia Vladimir Shklyarov, the Mariinsky Theatre will host an evening dedicated to the memory of the brilliant danseur noble on its Historic Stage. Stars of both the Mariinsky and Bolshoi ballets will participate in this special event. Arseny Shuplyakov will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra.

For the many admirers of this exceptional artist who are unable to attend in person, the Mariinsky Theatre will live stream The Magic of Vladimir Shklyarov on its official VKontakte community and the Mariinsky.tv website.

The programme includes:
Act III of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty. Choreography by Marius Petipa (reconstruction of the 1890 production), staged by Sergei Vikharev. Principal roles will be danced by Renata Shakirova and Philipp Stepin.
Gala programme featuring soloists from the Mariinsky and Bolshoi ballets. The programme includes choreographic masterpieces from across the years, reflecting the magic of Vladimir Shklyarov’s transformations – roles in which he shone as a soloist. Close colleagues from different generations will pose questions to Vladimir about his craft, his roles, and, of course, about happiness, and the audience will see video responses from their beloved danseur noble.
Kingdom of the Shades scene from Ludwig Minkus’ ballet La Bayadère. Choreography by Marius Petipa (1877) in the version by Vladimir Ponomarev and Vakhtang Chabukiani (1941). Principal roles will be performed by Viktoria Tereshkina and Kimin Kim.

The concept for the evening was conceived by Yuri Smekalov, with video projections by Andrey Sevbo.

The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre is set to embark on an extensive tour, taking its acclaimed production of Fikret Amirov’s ballet A Thousand and One Nights to Muscat, Oman, and then returning to its roots in St Petersburg.

On 6 and 7 February the Primorsky Stage Ballet Company will make its debut in Muscat, presenting A Thousand and One Nights at the Royal Opera House. This production recently gained national recognition, ranking among the top three hundred performances in the prestigious Golden Fund of Theatre Productions of Russia competition.

Leading soloists from the Primorsky Stage, including Anna Samostrelova, Irina Sapozhnikova, Lilia Berezhnova, Viktor Mulygin, Sergei Umanetc, Lada Sartakova, Shizuru Kato, Saki Nishida, Yuri Zinnurov, Sergei Amanbaev, Denis Klepikov, Alexandra Shalimova, Georgy Stelmakh and Daria Tikhonova, will dance the principal roles. The performances will also feature the Primorsky Stage Chorus and opera soloists Samira Galimova and Anastasia Kikot. Eyyub Kuliev will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra.

This original production by the Primorsky Company premiered in the Middle East in December 2023 – in Doha, Qatar, where it was met with resounding success. A Thousand and One Nights has consistently garnered warm receptions from audiences at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre and Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.

Following the performances in Muscat, the Primorsky Stage Ballet Company will continue its tour with a series of performances in St Petersburg. The company will grace the Historic Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre from 18 to 28 February.
The tour opens with Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, staged by People’s Artist of Russia Eldar Aliev. Performances will take place on 18, 19, 22 (at 2 pm and 7 pm) and 23 (at 2 pm and 7 pm) February. Audiences can also look forward to Adam’s Giselle (20 and 21 February) and Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty (25 and 26 February). The programme concludes with the exclusive one-act ballets Phaedra and The Firebird (27 and 28 February).

The Mariinsky Theatre is set to unveil a spectacular new production of Verdi’s operatic masterpiece, Aida, in February. This grand staging, helmed by the renowned Italian director Giancarlo del Monaco, will grace the Mariinsky-2 stage, with premiere performances scheduled for 7, 8 (at 13:00 and 19:00), 9 (at 13:00 and 19:00), 10 and 11 February.

Commissioned by the Khedive of Egypt to celebrate the opening of the Cairo Opera House and the completion of the Suez Canal, Aida premiered in Cairo in 1871, a year later than planned, as Verdi was unable to finish the opera in time for the canal’s inauguration. However, fate smiled upon Aida, and it quickly captivated audiences worldwide, becoming a mainstay of the operatic repertoire.

The Russian premiere took place at the Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theatre in St Petersburg in 1875, performed by the Imperial Italian Opera Company. Just two years later, in 1877, the Imperial Russian Opera Company presented the work at the Mariinsky Theatre in a Russian translation by Grigory Lishin. Aida continued to grace the Mariinsky (then known as the Kirov Theatre) throughout the Soviet era, and the history of modern productions began in 1998 with a staging by Alexei Stepanyuk, which remains in the theatre’s repertoire today. In 2011 the renowned Swiss theatre and circus director Daniele Finzi Pasca presented his own interpretation of Aida at the Concert Hall.

This latest production, eagerly anticipated by audiences, is the result of a collaboration between an international team led by the celebrated Italian director Giancarlo del Monaco. Set designer Antonio Romero and costume designer Gabriela Salaverri have created a visually stunning world for the opera, while choreographer Emil Faski brings dynamic movement to the stage.

Del Monaco’s production promises to be a spectacle of grand scale and innovative technical elements. The Mariinsky-2 offers the possibility of swift changes in visual perspective, with sections of the stage rising and falling to create dramatic effects. The production, which features hundreds of artists, including soloists, a large chorus and numerous extras, boasts nearly 400 costumes.

The director’s vision draws inspiration from architecture, reflecting the belief that the ideas and aspirations of different historical periods find expression in the buildings they create. The new production incorporates historically accurate set elements: fragments of ancient Egyptian structures – temples and monuments – constructed from materials reminiscent of basalt and volcanic lava, alongside imposing ten-metre-high columns and statues. These visual and technical features complement Verdi’s majestic and unforgettable music, a jewel of the Italian operatic tradition. However, del Monaco keeps the focus on the characters’ personal dramas and the complex interplay of their relationships.

“Aida is a late, mature masterpiece by Verdi,” del Monaco notes. “I have seen productions of this opera in both modern and classical styles, often with historical inaccuracies. There are also productions where everything is built around the anticipation of the Triumphal March. But I perceive Aida as a very personal, even intimate opera, similar to Don Carlo. Everything here is personal drama. Aida is perhaps one of Verdi’s most intimate operas, so it is essential to bring to the stage the personal drama that unfolds against the backdrop of political events.”

The production also reflects the religious history of ancient Egypt, where many animals were revered as sacred creatures. The Aida team has engaged an unusual “performer” not seen in any other current production at the Mariinsky Theatre.

On 9 February, the birthday of Honoured Artist of Russia Vladimir Shklyarov, the Mariinsky Theatre will host an evening dedicated to the memory of the brilliant danseur noble on its Historic Stage. The beloved artist, who tragically passed away in November last year, would have turned forty on this day.

The commemorative evening, titled The Magic of Vladimir Shklyarov, will feature stars of both the Mariinsky and Bolshoi ballets. Arseny Shuplyakov will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra.
The evening will commence with Act III of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, a rarely performed reconstruction of the opulent 1890 production, choreographed by Marius Petipa and revived by Sergei Vikharev. The principal roles will be danced by Renata Shakirova and Philipp Stepin, with Maria Shirinkina as Princess Florine and Yevgeny Konovalov as the Bluebird.

The second part of the programme will feature a gala performance with soloists from the Bolshoi Ballet – Svetlana Zakharova, Artemy Belyakov, Igor Tsvirko and Vladislav Lantratov – and the Mariinsky Ballet: Maria Shirinkina, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Konstantin Zverev and Maxim Ismestyev. The programme includes masterpieces from the treasury of ballet, showcasing roles in which Vladimir Shklyarov shone as both a soloist and an attentive partner. His artistic range was truly boundless, encompassing everything from fairytale princes to spirited rogues – this versatility will be celebrated in the second half of the evening. Dancer and choreographer Vladimir Varnava, with whom Shklyarov collaborated extensively, will also perform. In addition to the gala programme, the second part will include excerpts from video recordings featuring Vladimir Shklyarov.

The evening will conclude with the majestic and mesmerising Kingdom of the Shades scene from Minkus’ La Bayadère, with Viktoria Tereshkina and Kimin Kim in the principal roles.
Furthermore, a commemorative photographic exhibition will open at the White Foyer of the Mariinsky Theatre’s Historic Stage on this day. The exhibition will showcase a kaleidoscope of the numerous characters created by Vladimir Shklyarov over two decades of his vibrant stage career.

The Mariinsky Theatre is currently on a captivating tour of the Middle East, running from 18 to 27 January. Opera soloists, the Chorus, and the Orchestra, led by the renowned Valery Gergiev, will grace the stages of the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman and the National Theatre of Bahrain in Manama. Audiences can look forward to Verdi's opera Simon Boccanegra, alongside arias and symphonic excerpts from operas and ballets by some of the greatest Russian and European composers.

The tour began on 18 January with an intimate concert by Mariinsky soloists at the Royal Opera House Muscat. They performed a selection of arias from Simon Boccanegra, giving audiences a taste of the dramatic intensity to come. The concert featured Gleb Peryazev, Angelika Minasyan, Alexander Mikhailov, and Vladislav Kupriyanov, with Grigory Yakerson on piano.

On 23 and 25 January, the company will present Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera House Muscat under Maestro Gergiev's expert direction. Two performances are scheduled, each with a stellar cast. Vladislav Sulimsky takes on the title role, joined by the distinguished Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto, Tatiana Serjan, and Gleb Peryazev. Audiences can enjoy two different tenors as Gabriele Adorno: Sergei Skorokhodov on the 23 and Alexander Mikhailov on the 25. The role of Paolo Albiani will be sung by Roman Burdenko on the 23 and Vladislav Kupriyanov on the 25.

This production, originally created in 2014 by director Andrea De Rosa and costume designer Alessandro Lai, was brought to the Mariinsky from La Fenice in Venice. It was on this historic stage that Simon Boccanegra first premiered in 1857. This work, by a mature Verdi who had already produced many of his greatest operas, showcases his genius as a musical dramatist. It explores profound inner conflicts and celebrates the human capacity for repentance and forgiveness.

On 24 January, a gala concert will take place at the Royal Opera House Muscat, featuring a dazzling array of symphonic excerpts and arias from the international opera repertoire. The programme includes favourites from Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rossini, Cilea, Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, and Wagner. Maestro Valery Gergiev will conduct this musical feast.

The Middle Eastern tour concludes on 27 January with a concert at the National Theatre of Bahrain in Manama. The programme features arias from Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, and Puccini's Tosca. The concert also includes orchestral showpieces: Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, Three Wonders from Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and his symphonic suite Capriccio espagnol>, excerpts from Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker, Mussorgsky's Dawn on the Moskva River (prelude to the opera Khovanshchina), and excerpts from Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird.

Philipp Stepin was born in Leningrad into a ballet family. In 2005 he graduated with honours from the Vaganova Ballet Academy (class of Boris Bregvadze) and joined the Mariinsky Ballet. He was promoted to Soloist in 2009.

Throughout his career at the Mariinsky Theatre Philipp has performed a wide range of classical roles, including Basilio in Don Quixote, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty and many others. He is equally compelling in contemporary works. Both audiences and critics alike praise Philipp for his artistry, attentive partnering and consistently elegant dancing. His captivating stage presence contributes significantly to the success of every performance in which he appears.

Congratulations to Philipp! We wish him continued creative success, joy and well-being.