Stage Door News
Stage Door News
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, May 2, 2013 — A new era begins today for the world-renowned Mariinsky Theatre as its state-of-the-art opera house, Mariinsky II, officially opens to the public. The Mariinsky, which is led by Artistic and General Director Valery Gergiev and is one of the largest and most acclaimed performing arts institutions in the world, celebrates the opening with three days and nights of star-studded music and dance performances from May 2 through 4. Held on stages throughout the expanded Mariinsky cultural complex, the opening showcases the dynamic range of all of the Mariinsky Theatre’s prestigious companies: Mariinsky Opera, Ballet, Orchestra, Chorus, and Youth Ensembles.
The Opening Night Gala concert, conducted by Valery Gergiev, pays homage to the grand tradition of the Theatre and celebrates the future of the Mariinsky performing arts center. The performance features renowned vocalists and instrumentalists, including Ildar Abdrazakov, Yuri Bashmet, Olga Borodina, Plácido Domingo, Leonidas Kavakos, Alexei Markov, Denis Matsuev, Anna Netrebko, Yevgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, and Sergei Semishkur, as well as the Mariinsky’s acclaimed ballet dancers Yekaterina Kondaurova, Ulyana Lopatkina, Vladimir Shklyarov, and Diana Vishneva.
The opening of the new opera house marks the completion of the Mariinsky cultural complex in St. Petersburg’s historic Theatre Square and provides the legendary Russian organization with even greater artistic possibilities. This expanded campus serves all of the Mariinsky companies and enables each to offer the public a greatly increased schedule of presentations.
Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects of Toronto in conjunction with the Russian firm KB ViPS and with acoustic design by the German firm Müller-BBM, Mariinsky II offers an environment for opera that is inviting, warm, and intimate, as well as among the most technically sophisticated in the world. Complementing St. Petersburg’s beloved 19th-century architecture, the new opera house is located on Dekabristov Street and will connect to the historic stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, which opened in 1860, by a planned pedestrian bridge over the Kryukov Canal. It also joins the Concert Hall, inaugurated in 2006, and the Artistic Production Complex of the State Academic Mariinsky Theatre, established in 1874.
Commenting on the artistic programs chosen for the inaugural festival, Valery Gergiev stated, “These performances are designed as showcases for the extraordinary range of our companies and our expanded Center. While they reflect our history, they also testify to the Mariinsky’s vital engagement with today’s audiences and with all phases of contemporary opera, ballet, and orchestral music.” Maestro Gergiev, who will celebrate his 25th anniversary with the Mariinsky this fall, observed, “The opening of Mariinsky II invites us to reaffirm the long and great heritage of this institution but also gives us the opportunity to celebrate our future, in which we will be able to create new works and innovative productions as never before.”
“I feel certain that Mariinsky II is destined to become a St. Petersburg landmark, recognized for its superb acoustics, dazzling production facilities, and unsurpassed level of audience comfort,” Valery Gergiev stated. “The strength, confidence, and functional clarity of its design will enable it to become a lasting part of the life of its city. Above all, this building will be beloved as a great home for education, where every schoolchild and university student in St. Petersburg will engage with opera, orchestral music, and ballet.”
“Mariinsky II is an authentically contemporary structure that nevertheless respects its historic context and draws upon the successful design configuration of the great opera houses of the past,” said architect Jack Diamond, Principal, Diamond Schmitt Architects. “Our goal has been to give the public a building with a twenty-first century sensibility in which the social aspects of attending opera or ballet performances have been enhanced for every member of the audience.”
Design
The 851,580-square-foot Mariinsky II features seven stories in addition to three underground levels. Mariinsky II features a main auditorium; a 200-seat rooftop amphitheatre; a third-floor lobby amphitheatre; multiple rehearsal rooms for Mariinsky Opera, Ballet, Orchestra, and Chorus; dining and production facilities for 2,500 staff; and approximately 567,700 square feet of backstage space. Technical highlights include a stage wagon system and over-stage and under-stage machinery that will allow multiple productions to be performed in repertoire.
The main auditorium, designed in the tradition of 18th- and 19th-century opera houses, features a horseshoe configuration with three balconies, offering superb sightlines for an audience of approximately 2,000 people. The acoustic design has created optimum conditions for voice and the accompanying orchestras for opera and ballet. At about 18,000 cubic meters (635,400 cubic feet), the hall has an ideal volume, comparable to that of the world’s most renowned opera houses.
The exterior of the building features dramatic large glass façades and bay windows set in the outer masonry. These elements provide panoramic views of the city and the adjacent historic Mariinsky Theatre, while fulfilling the traditional role of colonnaded porticos. A gently curved metal roof is enlivened by a glass canopy, giving the building a contemporary identity that is nevertheless rooted in St. Petersburg’s architectural heritage. Inside, the lobby features a striking 33-meter architectural glass staircase and onyx stone walls.
Highlights of the White Nights Festival
In the weeks following the opening of Mariinsky II, the White Nights Festival will for the first time utilize all three of the Mariinsky performing arts venues from May 24 – July 28. Highlights of the festival will include a premiere of Alexander Dargomyzhsky’s opera Rusalka staged by Vasily Barkhatov and designed by Zinovy Margolin with Valery Gergiev conducting; Richard Wagner’s grandiose tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen under the baton of Valery Gergiev; a 3D broadcast of the ballet Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Theatre; guest performances by Batsheva Dance Company, Nederlands Dans Theater, the London Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow with Vladimir Fedoseyev, the Venice Baroque Orchestra and the Austrian Ensemble, “The Philharmonics”; and a new work by Alexei Ratmansky to a concerto by Dmitry Shostakovich. The festival will close with the world premiere of an opera by the brilliant contemporary Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, specially commissioned for the new stage by the Mariinsky Theatre. The premiere performances will take place on July 27 and 28.
The festival’s performances and concerts will feature world renowned performers such as the singers Anna Netrebko, Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Borodina and Ferruccio Furlanetto; ballet dancers Diana Vishneva, Yekaterina Kondaurova and Ulyana Lopatkina; conductors Paavo Jarvi, Mark Minkovski, and Nikolaj Znaider; violinist and conductor, Pinchas Zukerman; and the musicians Leonidas Kavakos and Rudolf Buchbinder, Christian Blackshaw, Alexander Toradze, Denis Matsuev, Yuri Bashmet, among others.
The Mariinsky Orchestra
www.mariinsky.ru/en
The Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre enjoys a long and distinguished history as one of the oldest musical institutions in Russia. Founded in the 18th century and housed in St. Petersburg’s famed Mariinsky Theatre since 1860, the Orchestra entered its “golden age” in the second half of the 19th century under the musical direction of Eduard Napravnik, whose leadership for more than a half century (1863-1916) secured the Orchestra’s reputation as one of the finest in Europe. Legendary artists who conducted the Mariinsky Orchestra and praised its outstanding musicianship included Berlioz, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Nikisch, and Rachmaninoff.
The Mariinsky Ballet
www.mariinsky.ru/en
Founded in the 18th century, the Mariinsky Ballet is recognized as one of the world’s leading companies. Most commonly known as the Kirov Ballet (its former Soviet name), the company has been home to many of the world’s most notable dancers, including Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. The Mariinsky Ballet performs worldwide under Maestro Gergiev’s direction at cultural institutions such as Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the United States, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, the Baltic Festival in Stockholm, and the Salzburg Festival in Austria.
The Mariinsky Opera
www.mariinsky.ru/en
With a history dating back to 1783, the Mariinsky Opera has performed in the world’s most celebrated opera houses and has produced some of opera’s most important artists, including Fyodor Chaliapin, Sophia Preobrazhenskaya, Boris Shtokolov, and Anna Netrebko. Since its inception, the Mariinsky Opera (known in the Soviet era as the Kirov Opera) has placed an emphasis on Russian culture by showcasing works from great Russian composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev. Today, the Opera blends the Russian canon with European and Romantic classics and works from vital contemporary composers.
The Mariinsky Label
www.mariinskylabel.com
The Mariinsky Label, launched in May 2009, draws on the Mariinsky's rich legacy and historic ties to the great Russian composers. It showcases the extraordinary talent within the Theatre and Orchestra, presenting new recordings of both celebrated works and those that deserve wider recognition. Each performance is recorded with high-definition technology in the new Mariinsky Concert Hall, which has been widely acclaimed for its exceptional acoustics. Recordings began in July 2008 during the annual White Nights Festival and are available on SACD from the Mariinsky Label website and better retailers. Notable releases on the Label include performances of Shostakovich’s early opera The Nose (which was nominated for two Grammy Awards) and Wagner’s Parsifal, named as one of the “CDs of the Year” by the New York Times.
Mariinsky Foundation of America
The Mariinsky Foundation of America (formerly known as White Nights Foundation of America) was formed in 1999 to support the activities of the Mariinsky Theatre’s constituent institutions: the Mariinsky Opera, Ballet, Orchestra, and the Academy for Young Singers and the Young Musicians’ Orchestra. The Mariinsky Foundation of America’s mission includes a commitment to strengthening and expanding the cultural, educational, and business relationships between Russia and the United States, and to being a positive, apolitical force for peace.
Diamond Schmitt Architects
www.dsai.ca
Based in Toronto with a practice that is worldwide, Diamond Schmitt is among the top 100 architecture firms in the world based on size and is ranked in the top 10 for cultural facilities by the UK-based publication Building Design. Other performing arts projects include Maison Symphonique de Montréal (2011), Sidney Harman Hall (2008) in Washington, D.C., and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (2006) in Toronto. Diamond Schmitt’s portfolio comprises academic buildings, libraries, sports facilities, and residential and commercial buildings, as well as extensive work in healthcare, including life science facilities, research laboratories, and hospitals.
Illustration: Mariinsky II Theatre. ©2012 Diamond + Schmitt Architects.
2013-05-02
St. Petersburg: The Mariinsky II Opera House designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects of Toronto opens May 2