American press gives lavish praise to Mariinsky performances at Metropolitan

The Mariinsky Theatre based in St. Petersburg is back home after more than two weeks of performing at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

In the period from July 8 through 26, the Mariinsky (former Kirov) Theater treated American audiences to productions of Russian operatic classics, including Pyotr Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin," Modest Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina," Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia," Anton Rubinstein's "Demon," and Sergei Prokofyev's "Semyon Kotko." The Mariinsky's operatic shows won lavish praise from the American media. Commenting on the production of "Semyon Kotko," The Associated Press pointed out that Mariinsky Artistic Director "Valery Gergiev seems to be on a one-man crusade to bring the neglected operas of Sergei Prokofiev before New York audiences." And the Mariinsky stage version of Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh" proved a real sensation. To quote The New York Times, "once again Mr. Gergiev is giving New Yorkers a chance to experience an enthralling production of an opera justly revered in his homeland."