The Kirov Opera

 

Artistic & General Director of The Mariinsky Theatre: Valery Gergiev

 

Orchestra of The Mariinsky Theatre

 

Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden

 

Monday 1 to Saturday 6 August 2005

 

Valery Gergiev, internationally acclaimed as one of today’s truly great conductors, has led the legendary Kirov Opera of The Mariinsky Theatre since 1988 with a dynamism and charisma that have created a company of unrivalled artistic supremacy.

Maestro Gergiev will conduct every performance of three operatic masterpieces from the Kirov’s vast repertoire. The Company’s brilliant virtuoso soloists and superlative chorus include world-renowned performers who are accompanied by the Mariinsky Opera Orchestra, a superb ensemble of Russia ’s finest musicians.

London audiences will be given the opportunity of experiencing Mussorgsky’s two great historical operatic dramas in one week. The Kirov Opera will open the season with their magnificent 2002 production of Mussorgsky’s original 1869 version of Boris Godunov.

Their incomparable interpretation of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, with its sumptuous sets and spectacular tableaux, will once again bring to the Royal Opera House stage the celebrated mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina. In complete contrast, The Kirov Opera’s third offering is Puccini’s exotic Turandot, set in the mythical Forbidden City with a cast led by the renowned Vladimir Galuzin in one of his most brilliant roles.