Stradivarius Ensemble orchestra

KIROV ORCHESTRA of the Mariinsky Theatre
Valery Gergiev, Music Director

The Mariinsky Theatre Stradivarius Ensemble comprises a group of musicians performing on the most famous and unique-sounding string instruments in the world. The ensemble was established on the initiative of Valery Gergiev, Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre. The Stradivarius Ensemble is made up of the best musicians and leading soloists of the Theatre's Symphony Orchestra. Their performances of popular and dearly-loved classical works sound completely different to concerts thanks to the incredibly rich and unbelievably beautiful timbres of the instruments made by Amati, Stradivarius, Guarneri, Guandini and Gofriller.

The Mariinsky Theatre Stradivarius Ensemble will be performing in this special presentation.

The KIROV ORCHESTRA has a long and distinguished history as one of the oldest musical institutions in Russia. Founded in the 18th century during the reign of Peter the Great, it was known before the revolution as the Russian Imperial Opera Orchestra. Housed in St. Petersburg's famed Mariinsky Theatre (named for the favorite daughter of Czar Nicholas I) since 1860, the Orchestra entered its true "golden age" during the second half of the 19th century under the music direction of Eduard Napravnik (1839-1916).

The Mariinsky Theatre has also been the birthplace of numerous operas and ballets, which have come to be regarded as masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries. World premiere performances include Glinka's Life of a Tsar and Russlan and Ludmilla; Borodin's Prince Igor; Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina; Rimsky-Korsakov's Maid of Pskov, The Snow Maiden and Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, among others; Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades, Iolanta, Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty; Prokofiev's The Duenna; as well as operas by Shostakovich and ballets by Khachaturian.

Renamed the Kirov during the Soviet era, the orchestra continued to maintain its high artistic standards under the leadership of Evgeni Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov. Since Valery Gergiev became artistic director in 1988, the Kirov has forged important relationships with the world's great opera houses, among them London's Royal Opera House, the San Francisco Opera, Paris Opera de la Bastille, and the Metropolitan Opera. Soon after the city of Leningrad was renamed St. Petersburg, the Kirov Theatre reverted to its original title of the Mariinsky Theatre, home to the Kirov Opera, the Kirov Ballet, and the Kirov Orchestra.

The Kirov Orchestra today is one of the world's most traveled orchestras, touring to Japan and China, and regularly in Europe, often with its own series or festival of concerts such as in London and Rotterdam. Frequent visitor to London, Paris, Vienna and Milan, the Orchestra visits the United States every two years.

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