"The Stars of the White Nights 2009" International Ballet and Opera Festival (21 May 2009 - 19 July 2009)
Artistic Director – Maestro Valery Gergiev
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.