The Mariinsky Theatre has launched an extensive tour across seven Chinese cities — Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Kunming, Changsha, and Xi’an — featuring its ballet and opera companies as well as the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Valery Gergiev.
The tour began on 11 October and will run through 27 October, marking one of the largest overseas engagements by the St Petersburg-based theatre in recent years. Alongside its long-established stops in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai, the Mariinsky will perform for the first time in Wuhan, Kunming, Changsha and Xi’an.
Ballet Performances: Swan Lake and Le Corsaire
The ballet company opened the tour with Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Adan’s Le Corsaire, which will be presented in Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai through 23 October. Among the performers are leading Mariinsky stars and rising talents, including Viktoria Tereshkina, Kimin Kim, Renata Shakirova, Timur Askerov, Nadezhda Batoeva, Maria Ilyushkina, Roman Belyakov, Roman Malyshev, Evan Capiten, Daria Kulikova, Maxim Izmestiev, Alisa Barinova, Anton Osetrov, Yaroslav Baibordin, Alexei Orohovski, and Roma Gudelyov.
The ballet programme opened at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing, where Swan Lake was performed on 11–12 October, followed by Le Corsaire on 13–14 October. The troupe will next appear at the Jiangsu Grand Theatre in Nanjing with Le Corsaire on 18 October and Swan Lake on 19–20 October, before concluding the ballet leg at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on 22–23 October.
Mahler Marathon: Nine Symphonies in Five Days
Under Valery Gergiev’s direction, the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra will open its symphonic programme on 12 October at the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre with an unprecedented performance cycle of all nine Mahler symphonies — a world record, achieved over just five days. The feat coincides with the 165th anniversary of Mahler’s birth, which the Mariinsky is celebrating throughout the year.
The Shanghai schedule includes Symphonies No. 7, 4 and 5 on 12 October; No. 1 and 3 on 13 October; No. 2 (Resurrection) on 14 October; No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) on 15 October; and No. 6 (Tragic) and No. 9 on 16 October.
Following the Mahler cycle, Gergiev and the orchestra will tour Wuhan (17 October), Kunming (18 October), and Changsha (19 October) with a symphonic programme featuring Mussorgsky’s Dawn on the Moscow River and Pictures at an Exhibition, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, and Ravel’s Boléro.
Beijing Engagements and Grand Finale in Xi’an
The tour will then return to Beijing for a series of performances from 21 to 26 October. On 21 October, Gergiev will conduct the NCPA Chinese Orchestra — marking a continuation of cultural exchange following the ensemble’s debut at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg last year under Li Xincao.
On 22 October, the Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra and the Chorus of the Mariinsky’s Primorsky Stage will perform Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. The following day, on 23 October, the company will present a concert version of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, offering Chinese audiences a rare opportunity to experience this Russian operatic masterpiece.
The Mariinsky artists will also take part in the NCPA’s production of Verdi’s Otello on 25–26 October, again under Gergiev’s baton.
The grand tour will conclude on 27 October in Xi’an, with a final concert featuring Dawn on the Moscow River, Pictures at an Exhibition, Scheherazade, and Boléro.
