Mariinsky Orchestra

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Mariinsky Orchestra is the orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, alongside the Mariinsky Ballet and the Mariinsky Opera. The theatre opened in 1860 and in the late nineteenth century became the most important musical theatre in Russia. Many stage works by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov had their premiere there. The name refers to Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of Tsar Alexander II.

Music and breakthrough

The name of the building changed with the political times. It was the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre until 1920, then a state theatre and, from 1935 to 1992, the Kirov Theatre, named after the assassinated party leader Sergei Kirov. Since 1992 it has been called the Mariinsky again. The companies kept the name Kirov for the sake of their reputation abroad. After the departure of Yuri Temirkanov in 1988, the conductor Valery Gergiev became general director of the theatre.

Influence

The orchestra thus plays the Russian repertoire for which the theatre is known, from opera and ballet to symphonic music. Our sources say little about its recordings and its line-up. For pop history it matters mainly as the place where the great Russian repertoire of the nineteenth century was performed.

Listening