On 25 October, under the baton of Valery Gergiev, the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra grandly inaugurated the new hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, situated in the largest park in the eastern district of Tongzhou.
"This is a very fine new venue. I've just congratulated our Chinese friends in an interview on such an achievement. The idea to create a hall not in the centre of Beijing but for the millions of music lovers is brilliant. Nearby, they will soon open opera and drama theatres, a museum, and a vast library. This is precisely what will shortly happen in St Petersburg. We and our friends from China are engaged in creative tasks as well as in expanding the capabilities of our extensive venues: this is what unites us!" remarked Valery Gergiev.
The concert commenced with the Chinese piece We walk on the broad way arranged by Cai Dongzhen. The evening's program also featured Glinka's overture to the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila, Debussy's L'Après-midi d'un faune, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, music from Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, and the third aria of Delilah from Saint-Saëns' opera Samson et Dalila, performed by Zinaida Tsarenko – the grand prize winner, first prize recipient, and gold medalist of the XVII International Tchaikovsky Competition.
This concert marked the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra's final performance in Beijing during the current Chinese tour – with the ensemble set to perform in Nanjing on 26 and 27 October. The symphonic program of the Mariinsky Theatre's Chinese tour will conclude with a concert on 29 October in Harbin.
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