In June and July the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres will embark on a major series of reciprocal tours in St Petersburg and Moscow. First, however, on 9, 10 and 11 June the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev will perform at the Zaryadye Moscow Concert Hall. In this anniversary year celebrating the 185th anniversary of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s birth, the orchestra and maestro will present a lavish programme devoted to the composer’s works. Across three evenings the complete cycle of Tchaikovsky’s numbered symphonies will be performed.
On 9 June at the Grand Hall the programme will include Symphony No. 1 (Winter Daydreams), Symphony No. 6 (Pathétique) and Piano Concerto No. 3. The 10 June programme will feature Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 5 and Variations on a Rococo Theme for cello and orchestra. The closing concert on 11 June will present Symphony No. 3, Symphony No. 4 and the Violin Concerto. Valery Gergiev will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra throughout the cycle.
At the end of June a major cultural exchange will take place between Russia’s two leading theatres. From 25 to 29 June, as part of the Verdi Festival at the Historic Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow audiences will see one of this season’s most acclaimed new productions from St Petersburg – Verdi’s Aida, staged by the renowned Italian director Giancarlo del Monaco. The production, which has captivated audiences since its premiere, will be performed in Moscow by Mariinsky Theatre soloists, the combined symphony orchestras of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres, and the Chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre.
Meanwhile, the Bolshoi’s New Stage will host the Mariinsky Ballet from 27 to 29 June. Moscow audiences can look forward to an evening of contemporary one-act ballets set to music by Stravinsky. The programme includes Pulcinella and Jeu de cartes choreographed by Ilya Zhivoi, as well as Dancescenes by Vyacheslav Samodurov – a vibrant choreographic interpretation of Stravinsky’s Symphony in C and one of this year’s standout dance events.
During the same period St Petersburg will welcome the long-awaited tour of the Bolshoi Ballet. From 27 to 29 June the Bolshoi Theatre troupe will present one of the most visually striking works in its repertoire – the ballet The Master and Margarita, set to music by Alfred Schnittke and Milko Lazar, choreographed by Edward Clug. The performance will take place within the XXXIII Music Festival Stars of the White Nights. The cast will feature leading stars of the Bolshoi Ballet, with the celebrated Mariinsky prima ballerina Diana Vishneva dancing the role of Margarita on 28 June. Anton Grishanin will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra.
In July Moscow audiences can look forward to a particularly special dance event – a joint project of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres: an evening of four legendary ballets by Igor Stravinsky. These iconic one-act ballets of the early 20th century will be performed on 10 and 11 July at the Bolshoi’s Historic Stage. The programme includes The Firebird and Petrouchka in Michel Fokine’s choreography (Bolshoi Theatre), as well as The Rite of Spring in Millicent Hodson’s choreography after Vaslav Nijinsky, and Les Noces choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska (Mariinsky Theatre).
It is worth recalling that the reciprocal tours between the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres were revived in February 2024 – the first such exchange in two decades – when both companies performed on each other’s stages. In the year marking the 180th anniversary of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s birth, the Mariinsky Opera brought The Maid of Pskov, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya and Christmas Eve to the Bolshoi Theatre. In turn, the Bolshoi presented Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride in St Petersburg. The primary outcome of nearly eighteen months of creative collaboration between the two theatres has been to give audiences in both capitals the opportunity to enjoy the finest examples of musical theatre on their home stages.
Over this period St Petersburg audiences have experienced productions of The Tsar’s Bride (Rimsky-Korsakov), Boris Godunov (Musorgsky), Luisa Miller and Rigoletto (Verdi), Béatrice et Bénédict (Berlioz), Il viaggio a Reims (Rossini) and ballets including Spartacus (Khachaturian), Jewels (set to music by Fauré, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky), Ivan the Terrible (Prokofiev), The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky–Krasavin) and Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev).
Meanwhile, Moscow audiences have seen Mariinsky Theatre productions of The Maid of Pskov, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, Christmas Eve (Rimsky-Korsakov), Khovanshchina (Musorgsky), Ruslan and Lyudmila and A Life for the Tsar (Glinka), Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer), I puritani (Bellini), Eugene Onegin, The Enchantress and The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky), as well as Wagner’s monumental tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen. The Mariinsky Ballet’s tour at the Bolshoi Theatre featured The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (Asafiev), Don Quixote (Minkus), Shurale (Yarullin), The Young Lady and the Hooligan and Leningrad Symphony to music by Shostakovich.
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