While the Bolshoi Theater is looking for a reasonable way out of the situation created in Moscow due to the new coronavirus restrictions, which limits the sale of seats to a 25% quota, the Mariinsky is expanding into the capital’s music market. Opened by Gergiev in Moscow, the Zaryadye festival, which lures the capital’s music lovers with a program consisting entirely of musical delicacies, is part of the big strategy of the leadership of the Mariinsky Theater for the cultural occupation of Moscow. Gergiev’s achievement, not only as a musician, but also as an administrator, was the founding of the Moscow Easter Festival, which was supposed to take place this year for the 19th time, but the covid prevented it. But one Easter festival was clearly not enough to finally take root in Moscow, on the territory of “sworn colleagues” from the Bolshoi. And the opening of the Zaryadye hall was an excellent occasion for holding the calendar-symmetrical autumn festival of the Mariinsky Theater right in the heart of the capital.
Expansion of the Mariinsky Theater
Although Zaryadye is taking place only for the second time and has not yet developed an impressive portfolio, the status of the festival does not hold. And the concert hall in Zaryadye has already become Gergiev’s unspoken territory. He not only personally opened Zaryadye in 2017, but also headed the supervisory board in charge of the creative development of the concert hall (now, however, instead of the list of board members on the Zaryadye website, there is a meaningful “Error 404. It’s time to enjoy the music”) . By the way, it is worth recalling that it was here, on this stage, that the inauguration of Mayor Sergei Sobyanin took place.
In addition to Moscow, there is the whole of Russia, which the Mariinsky Theater is also gradually growing: the number of official Mariinsky Theaters is already approaching 10. We bend our fingers: the Mariinsky-1 is a historical stage; Mariinsky-2 is a new stage with failed public spaces and an amazing hall, Mariinsky-3 is a concert hall in St. Petersburg. But this is only the second capital. We continue to count: the National Opera and Philharmonic in Vladikavkaz, in the homeland of Gergiev, – “Mariinsky-5”. For some time, the new Opera and Ballet Theater in Vladivostok, which eventually turned into the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theater, was called “Mariinsky-4” missing from the list. This stage has become a place of attraction for fans of the classics not only from Russia, but also from Japan, Korea, and China. In these countries, the number 4 is very disliked, seeing in it the symbolism of death. They try to avoid it everywhere: in hotels, in the numbering of floors. In the temples of art, apparently, too. Most likely, this is why the Mariinsky-4 was politically correct renamed into something less traumatic for Asian neighbors.
The Zaryadye Concert Hall, of course, is subordinate to the Moscow Department of Culture and conducts an extensive repertory activity, which is by no means limited to the performances of Gergiev, his team and his distinguished guests. But if the hegemony of the artistic director of the Mariinsky grows stronger here (and this is quite likely), the day will come when Zaryadye will be fit to try on a T-shirt with number 6 – the inner demon of Petersburgers, stung by the relegation of St. Petersburg to the status of a province, in this case will be completely satisfied. If this does not happen, “Mariinsky-6” will appear in Kemerovo. At least in pre-Covid times, there were plans to open the Mariinsky Theater in Kuzbass as early as 2023. And last October, the governor of the region, Sergei Tsivilev, confirmed these dates.
But let’s get back to this unkind autumn. The Zaryadye festival, which opened on November 15, began with Shostakovich’s unbeaten Leningrad symphony, the overture to Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar, and Prokofiev’s Second Concerto (soloist Alexander Kantorov, laureate of the 16th Tchaikovsky Competition). In the next two weeks, Muscovites are waiting exclusively for stars and premieres. Here is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with soloist Nikolai Lugansky, and the Moscow premiere of the oratorio “On Love and Hate” by Sofia Gubaidulina. Ekaterina Semenchuk and Ildar Abdrazakov will perform in Hector Berlioz’s dramatic legend The Damnation of Faust. The Stradivari Ensemble will perform works by Fauré, Debussy and Schubert (conductor Lorenz Nasturica-Gershovichi). An offering to Beethoven, whose anniversary is celebrated in 2020, will be made by Denis Matsuev, who will perform the Piano Concerto No. 3. On the same evening, the Mariinsky Orchestra will present the audience with The Rite of Spring.
The ballet part of the festival is extremely interesting. The Moscow audience will see the Moscow premiere of Daphnis and Chloe directed by Vladimir Varnava, as well as a whole program of ballets by Alexei Ratmansky (Seven Sonatas and Concerto DSCH). It is a pity that at the last moment Lunar Pierrot, which promised to become a hit of the festival, dropped out of the poster. But there was another surprise: in the final concert, scheduled for November 28, the winner of the second prize of the Tchaikovsky Competition – 2018 Japanese pianist Mao Fujita will perform. In addition, just four days after the world premiere in St. Petersburg, Zaryadye will perform Rodion Shchedrin’s Adventures of a Monkey concerto for a reader and string orchestra. The composer dedicated it to the memory of Maya Plisetskaya and took as a literary basis the story of Zoshchenko, who was loved by the great ballerina.
The alarming situation of total covid closures made Muscovites nervous. However, the festival continues despite the notorious 25% occupancy quota. Perhaps just lucky. Or perhaps the main role was played by the intercession of the good genius Valery Gergiev, who was able to bring the Mariinsky Theater back to life in July, when all theaters were still experiencing coronavirus paralysis. Against this background, how not to recall the press conference of the director of the Bolshoi Theater at one of the St. Petersburg cultural forums. When asked when the public will see the tour of the country’s main theater in the cultural capital, Vladimir Urin replied that this is a very costly event, for which additional funding or partners must be sought. There are no words, the Bolshoi is always sold out, the team is not up to internal tours. But the Mariinsky seems to have taken a different path. Gergiev somehow manages to resolve all organizational issues, which allows his theater to spud cultural beds throughout Russia.
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