 |
||
|
|
|
By Vivien Schweitzer
17 Jul 2006
 |
|
| Dmitri Shostakovich |
To celebrate the composer's 100th birthday this year, London is hosting a Shostakovich marathon, headlined by the tireless Valery Gergiev, beginning Thursday, July 20 at the Coliseum.
According to the London Daily Telegraph, Gergiev is bringing 420 Mariinsky players, dancers and opera singers for the 10-day, £1 million event. The paper says that most of the stage works being performed are new to Britain. They include The Nose and Katerina Izmailova (the Krushchev-era expurgated version of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), the operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki and the ballet The Golden Age.
Beginning this fall, the Barbican Centre will celebrate the centennial with all 15 of Shostakovich's symphonies conducted by Gergiev. The series opens on September 13 with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the composer's Symphony No. 5; this concert will be followed the next day by his Ninth Symphony. Gergiev returns to the Barbican in December to conduct the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and Chorus in other Shostakovich symphonies.
Send questions and comments to the Webmaster
Copyright © 2010 Playbill, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
