Gergiev returns for Grand Event of Classical Music

NCPA October/24/2023

Maestro Gergiev led the Mariinsky Orchestra and Chorus to appear at the NCPA Concert Hall, rendering Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, Prokofiev’s cantata Alexander Nevsky, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. These classical masterpieces showed the orchestra’s great artistry in Russian works.

In March of this year, the Mariinsky Orchestra gave three performances at the NCPA Concert Hall. This time, maestro Gergiev returned with the orchestra after only a six-month hiatus, and presented a distinct repertoire not previously showcased on tour before.

This year marks the 190^th anniversary of the Russian composer Borodin’s birth, the 70^th anniversary of Prokofiev’s death, and the 150^th anniversary of Rachmaninoff's birth. In this memorable year, Gergiev selected well-received works by the three composers, providing a highly concise interpretation that revealed the depth and richness of Russian classical music.

The concert began with Polovtsian Dances, which comes from the second act of Borodin’s opera Prince Igor. The opera was one of the four operas staged under Gergiev’s baton at the NCPA’s grand opening. As the concert began, the audiences were transported to a world of pure musical enchantment.

Then, the cantata Alexander Nevsky brought the atmosphere to a new high. The work was refined from the film score by the composer, with the musical style well retained. The music piece portrays a story about Alexander Nevsky, a national hero of Russia in the 13^th century in seven movements. Gergiev gave a masterful interpretation of the piece, enabling the audience to appreciate the grandeur and lyricism of this rarely staged masterpiece while immersing themselves in the delicacy of epic style.

The concert continues in the second half with Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. The Symphonic Dances, which the composer foresaw as his own swan song, encapsulates the musician’s contemplations over his troubled life as an exile. Gergiev and the orchestra’s interpretation of this work represents their praise for life itself.

Tomorrow evening, they will perform Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 6 and Richard Strauss’ Don Giovanni and Ein Heldenleben.

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