"The Stars of the White Nights 2023" International Ballet and Opera Festival (27 May 2023 - 11 July 2023)

From May 27 to July 11, the Mariinsky Theater will host the XXXI International Music Festival "Stars of the White Nights" - the main event of the St. Petersburg summer and the culmination of the musical season of the Northern capital. Spectators are waiting for performances by stars of the world stage, a scattering of repertoire rarities and solo concerts of outstanding vocalists and instrumentalists. Events of a rich program will take place on all stages of the Mariinsky Theater at once. Artistic director - Valery Gergiev.

The large festival program will start with a concert by the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev on the afternoon of May 27 in the Concert Hall. In the evening, the maestro will again stand at the podium - the lyric opera Iolanta by Tchaikovsky, one of the recent premieres at the Mariinsky, will open on the historical stage Stars of the White Nights. And the new stage will be graced by another recent premiere - the grandiose ballet The Pharaoh's Daughter choreographed by Marius Petipa, which has become a real highlight of the season. You can watch the performance again on May 28 and 29.

June will give the audience a lot of meetings with their favorite artists - as part of the Stars of the White Nights, world-famous opera soloists will appear on the historical and new stages. On May 31, Hibla Gerzmava will perform on the new stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The famous soprano will appear as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello. On June 3 "Italian in Algeria" Rossini will be held with the participation of Ildar Abdrazakov. The famous bass will perform the part of the charming bey Mustafa - one of the crowning in his repertoire. It will be possible to see the artist again on stage on June 8 - his concert with the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev will be held at the Mariinsky-2.

On June 16, one cannot miss the concert performance of Bellini's opera "I Puritani" - a rare composition for the Mariinsky will be performed by a brilliant cast of artists. Albina Shagimuratova and Maharram Huseynov will play the main roles. Another gift for the audience will be Salome by Richard Strauss – on June 21 Elena Stikhina will perform in the title role. At the conductor's stand - Valery Gergiev. On June 27, Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia" will also be performed on the new stage in an expressive production by Alexei Stepanyuk. The part of Fevronia will be performed by Irina Churilova.

A good tradition of the festival has become a series of shows of repertory rarities of the Mariinsky. On May 31, the audience will see the ballet "Shurale" by Farid Yarullin choreographed by Leonid Yakobson. This colorful story based on oriental folk tales is often called the Tatar "Swan Lake". On June 16 and 17, Glazunov's "Raymonda", one of the late big ballets by the already mature master Marius Petipa, will be shown on the Historical Stage. The audience is waiting for an exciting plot, complex parties, large-scale dance scenes in the scenery and costumes of Simon Virsaladze. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the world premiere of the ballet, which took place on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. The first show of "Raymonda" will also be dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the legendary ballerina Irina Kolpakova. Of the operatic rarities, it is worth paying attention to Prokofiev's "Semyon Kotko" (June 14), Igor Stravinsky's "Le Rossignol" (June 17), Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlo" (June 30).

Among the upcoming events of the Stars of the White Nights instrumental playbill are a concert by cellist Oleg Sendetsky and organist Svetlana Berezhnaya (May 27), an evening of serenades performed by the Stradivari Ensemble of the Mariinsky Theater (May 28), a performance by the bright flutist Sofia Wieland with the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra (May 30). On May 30, on the birthday of the outstanding pianist Alexander Toradze, a concert dedicated to the memory of the musician will be given on the new stage. Denis Matsuev will take part in the concert, and Valery Gergiev will conduct the Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre. Piano music fans will also enjoy the gala concert of outstanding young pianists, participants in various competitions and festivals, whose names were revealed to the world by Denis Matsuev (June 1). Another event will be the solo concert of the bright young pianist Ivan Bessonov (June 9), winner of the gold medal of the International Competition of Pianists, Composers and Conductors. S.V. Rachmaninov.

The Perm Opera and Ballet Theater will also tour on the stages of the Mariinsky as part of the Stars of the White Nights. On May 30, the Parma Voices choir will perform in the Prokofiev Chamber Hall, on June 1, Bellini's "Norma", one of the recent premieres of the Perm Opera, will be performed on the historical stage, and on June 2, Verdi's "La Traviata" will be performed in concert in the Concert Hall. The tour will conclude with a performance of the ballet "Romeo and Juliet" (June 3) choreographed by the British classic Kenneth Macmillan - a unique production for Russia. Conductor of all three performances is Mihran Aghajanyan.

The Stars of the White Nights is one of the brightest stars of the music and theatre universe and has emerged to be one of the most popular and grandiose music forums in its context and scale.

The Stars of the White Nights Festival was created in 1993 by Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Theatre Artistic and General Director. Maestro Gergiev says that he conceived the first Festival as a "musical gift" to the city from the Mariinsky and its star-artists. From the very beginning the Festival has been focused on the masterpieces of the world's music discovering for its audience some rarely performed or undeservedly forgotten pieces.

The Stars of the White Nights Festival has gained in strength, popularity and international acclaim. The duration for the Festival it has expanded from ten days to three months during the last sixteen year. Renowned conductors and star-artists take as great honour the invitation to perform at the Stars of the White Nights. Each year the Festival programme includes the Theater's finest opera and ballet productions, great symphonic works, masterpieces of chamber music and new premieres.

During the last years the Festival programme has included the works created by the great classical composers – Beethoven symphonies, Prokofiev's and Tchaikovsky's operas, ballets and symphony music. Major events at the Stars have included the production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, in addition to the Shostakovich and Mahler Symphonies series.

This festival is a must for ballet, opera and classical music amateurs. The annual Stars of the White Nights Festival takes an inspiration for its name from the short summer season when the sun never sets, and the beauty of St-Petersburg White Nights contributes to the festival's special atmosphere and its world-class programme of concerts, as audience comes out of the historic theatre at midnight into daylight to stroll along the streets of the theatrical setting of St Petersburg.