Audiences can anticipate operatic masterpieces performed by exceptional soloists under the baton of Valery Gergiev, complemented by nationwide live broadcasts of the performances.
From 26 November to 5 December the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia will host a grand festival dedicated to the great Russian composer Modest Petrovich Musorgsky, marking the 185th anniversary of his birth. Entitled Our Musorgsky: From the Depths…, the festival will be a collaborative effort between Russia’s two leading musical theatres – the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky. Residents and visitors to the capital will have a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the legacy of one of the greatest masters who celebrated Russian history, identity and the splendour of its traditions and culture.
The festival will showcase the composer’s operatic masterpieces: Khovanshchina, Sorochintsy Fair, The Marriage and Salammbô. The festival will culminate with a performance of the legendary Boris Godunov on the Historic Stage, a production that has become synonymous with the Bolshoi Theatre and its historical traditions. This performance will feature the celebrated bass Ildar Abdrazakov, alongside soloists from both the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, accompanied by the Bolshoi Theatre’s Chorus and Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev.
The festival opens on 26 and 27 November with the premiere of a production of Khovanshchina on the Historic Stage. Leonid Baratov’s legendary 1952 production, with its opulent sets by Fyodor Fedorovsky, was revived at the Mariinsky Theatre in a new staging by Yuri Alexandrov on 1 May 2000. It will now enter the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theatre.
The festival continues with the premiere of a new version of Sorochintsy Fair on 28 and 29 November. This production, based on Boris Pokrovsky’s 2000 staging, will be directed by Ksenia Shostakovich on the Bolshoi Theatre’s New Stage. The musical edition is by Vissarion Shebalin.
In this comic opera based on Gogol’s eponymous story, Musorgsky continued the creative experiment he began in The Marriage. On the same dates – 28 and 29 November – the Chamber Stage will host the premiere of The Marriage, set to Gogol’s text, directed by Edem Ibraimov and featuring set design by Ksenia Kalinina.
On 2 December the Historic Stage will present the unfinished opera Salammbô in the Mariinsky Theatre’s musical edition. The libretto is by the composer, based on Gustave Flaubert’s novel of the same name, and also includes verses by Vasily Zhukovsky, Apollon Maykov and Alexander Polezhayev. The orchestration is by Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Vissarion Shebalin and Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn.
The festival concludes with performances of Boris Godunov on 4 and 5 December on the Historic Stage. The libretto is by Musorgsky, based on Pushkin’s drama of the same name. The edition and orchestration are by Rimsky-Korsakov, with the scene Near St Basil’s Cathedral orchestrated by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. The renowned 1948 production by Nikolai Golovanov and Leonid Baratov (with set and costume design by Fyodor Fedorovsky and choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky), revived on 1 December 2011, will provide a triumphant conclusion to the festival.
Live broadcasts of the festival’s opening and closing performances will extend the audience reach across the country, allowing viewers to experience Khovanshchina (26 November) and Boris Godunov (4 December). The broadcasts will encompass over fifty cinemas and select art venues in thirty cities.
KARO.Art will present the broadcasts in twelve cinemas, including the country’s flagship venue, the Oktyabr Cinema Centre. Cinema versions of the broadcasts of Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov will be shown throughout Russia, distributed by Kino.Art.Pro.
This initiative follows the successful broadcast of the Bolshoi Theatre’s season opening in September 2024, which saw the return of the classic ballet The Sleeping Beauty to the repertoire of Russia’s principal theatre, reaching an audience of over 300,000 viewers in Russia and abroad.
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