Mariinsky Orchestra to play for Istanbul stage

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

The orchestra has performed every symphony by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Mahler and Beethoven, as well as requiems by Mozart, Verdi, Tishchenko and works by Shchedrin.

One of the entrenched orchestras of Russia with 200 years of history, Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra is coming to Istanbul to meet classical music lovers under the baton of distinguished conductor Valery Gergiev on Jan. 3, 2012.

After being appointed general director in 1996, Gergiev expanded the orchestra’s repertoire significantly. In addition to opera and ballet, the orchestra’s repertoire has come to include symphonic works and other genres of philharmonic music.

The orchestra has performed every symphony by Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Mahler and Beethoven, Requiems by Mozart, Verdi and Tishchenko and works by Shchedrin, Gubaidulina, Kancheli and Koretnikov, among many others.

In 2008, according to the results of a survey of leading music critics from major publications in the Americas, Asia and Europe, the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra was named one of the top 20 orchestras in the world.

Gergiev has established and directs such international festivals as the Gergiev Festival (the Netherlands), the Moscow Easter Festival and the Stars of the White Nights Festival (St. Petersburg), which Austria’s respected Festspiele Magazin listed as one of the world’s 10 greatest festivals in the world.

Since 2007 Gergiev has been the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and also collaborates with the Wiener Philharmoniker, the orchestra of La Scala and the New York and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestras.

The Times wrote, “Gergiev has turned the Mariinsky Theater with its centuries-old traditions into the world’s most dynamic opera and ballet company, nurturing an endless stream of brilliant singers and dancers.

The maestro fully deserves his rating by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world today.”

In this concert Gergiev will again achieve impressing the audience with his extraordinary charisma, high energy and passion for music. The Istanbul program of the orchestra has not identified yet. The concert starts at 8 p.m.