From 22 October to 5 November the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host the XIII International Organ Festival Mariinsky. The programme offers audiences a kaleidoscope of vivid musical events featuring the renowned organists Pascal Reber, Olga Kotlyarova, Svetlana Berezhnaya, Marina Väisä and Léonid Karev. The concerts will also feature cellist Sergey Roldugin, flautist Maria Fedotova, percussionists Andrey Khotin, Vladimir Maslov, Vladislav Ivanov, Sergey Buranov and Nikolai Khotin, as well as Mariinsky Theatre soloists, the Mariinsky Chorus and the Mariinsky Orchestra.
On 17 October, on the eve of the festival’s opening, a special event will take place – a performance of Dvořák’s Mass in D major in its original version, without orchestra, accompanied only by the organ. The work will be performed by the Mariinsky Chorus conducted by Konstantin Rylov, with Olga Kotlyarova at the organ.
The festival will officially open on 22 October. Mariinsky Theatre soloists, the Mariinsky Chorus and the Mariinsky Orchestra, conducted by Konstantin Rylov, will perform Bach’s Mass in B minor. The composition, created by the composer over a span of twenty-five years, combines previously written and newly composed music. On 2 November another of Bach’s monumental masterpieces, the Matthäus-Passion, will be presented, recounting the last three days of Christ’s life. The organ part in both concerts will be performed by Olga Kotlyarova.
On 23 October People’s Artist of Russia, international competition laureate cellist Sergey Roldugin will appear together with Honoured Artist of Russia, pianist, Artistic Director and Principal Organist of the V.I. Safonov North Caucasus State Philharmonic Svetlana Berezhnaya. Their programme includes works by Bach, Handel, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Shchedrin and Tchaikovsky.
On 26 October Marina Väisä will present a special Organ Concert for Children, offering young listeners a unique opportunity to discover the sound of the organ. The programme will include original organ compositions and transcriptions of popular classical miniatures, allowing audiences to hear familiar music in a new and unexpected form.
On 31 October the distinguished French organist Pascal Reber will perform. Since 2009 he has taught at Saint-Louis Conservatoire and serves as titular organist of Strasbourg Cathedral and the Church of Saint-Étienne in Mulhouse. At Strasbourg Cathedral he plays the unique instrument built by the celebrated French firm Alfred Kern & Fils. An internationally acclaimed musician, Reber is also renowned for his masterful improvisations. His programme on 31 October will include the overture to Rameau’s opera-ballet Les Indes galantes (transcribed by Yves Rechsteiner), three pieces from Grigny’s Premier Livre d’Orgue, and works by Bach.
The festival will close on 5 November with a concert by Léonid Karev, international competition laureate and Titular Organist of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Church of Saint-Médard in Brunoy (France). He will be joined by percussionists Andrey Khotin, Vladimir Maslov, Vladislav Ivanov, Sergey Buranov and Nikolai Khotin, as well as Honoured Artist of Russia Maria Fedotova (flute), a frequent participant in international music festivals. The programme features works by Bach and Bizet–Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite in Karev’s transcription for organ and percussion.
The Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre houses an organ built by the Strasbourg firm Alfred Kern & Fils, founded with the participation of the renowned philosopher, musicologist and organist Albert Schweitzer. This magnificent instrument allows the performance of a wide range of repertoire and offers audiences an unforgettable experience of majestic organ music.
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