Gergiev conducts three Nabuccos in a day
OperaVladimir Putin’s circusmaster is still showing off his stamina as his 70th birthday approaches.
Gergiev will conduct three pereformances of Verdi’s Nabucco at the Mariinsky on March 12 – at 12 noon, 4pm and 8pm.
He’s either showing off, or he just can’t find substitute conductors during the Ukraine war.
Ridiculous.
Wasn’t that the one about the mad king in hope of recovery? Where they sing “Death to the foreign invaders?”
No, he’s just doing what no one can do and that is the reason you all envy him
Each performance worse than the one before…
No one living in a free country would ever envy the lackey of a dictator. You pity them if they are forced into that role and you are disgusted by them if they do it voluntarily. Take your pick.
From my experience working at the Mariinsky theatre, I would guess that the internet simply does not reflect yet what the actual cast will be on the date of performance. Maestro Gergiev’s name could be listed there both because he is the main conductor of the house in general and because he is credited as conductor of that production, however, that does not mean that in the end another conductor could be leading one or more of those performances. If you consider the number of performances put on every day at the Mariinsky theatre, then it becomes more understandable how flexible they must be with scheduling artists and that the website (especially the English version) can never accurately reflect the way things will end up.
Nabucco is a new production, replacing the Berman-production. The premiere will be on 5th of March with two performances, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, both to be conducted by Gergiev. Three performances is just a little bit more.
The Mariinsky has so many singers, that in principle they can easily cast Abigaille and Nabucco with 3 different soloists. The question is only, whether they will do it this way. A short time ago there were 2 performances of Cavalleria rusticana with an almost identical cast, only Mamma Lucia was double-cast.
When I follow the Mariinsky schedule, I notice, that many operas are performed 2 or 3 times per day, for example the new Zauberflöte or Love for the 3 Oranges. Maybe there is one reason for this new policy : the Mariinsky has to make money. Before the war there were lots of foreign visitors, who had to pay much higher prices than the Russian citizens.
Surely the cast will change for each performance? I just can’t imagine anyone singing three Abigailles or Nabuccos in one day!
And what about Zaccaria or the chorus? No minor tasks at all!
A man’s gotta do SOMETHING if his boss is into nude wrestling with lions that he captured on a horse.
It is important to stay a Mensch. With all due criticism and claiming the moral high road: we should never sink to levels where we trash people for their origin from or affiliation to a certain tribe or nation. De-humanizing people is always the first step to hell and mass murder.
People aren’t criticizing him because he’s Russian, they’re criticizing him because he’s been one of Putin’s biggest, most high-profile supporters, even throughout the war, for many years
Tamino I don’t trash this conductor because he is Russian. I trash him because he chooses of his own free will to associate with the Putin. If leaders of the nation you are in are doing repugnant things then call it out or at least do the minimum you are forced to do if you fear for your liberty
The physical stamina of Gergiev, his buddy Domingo and their ability to cling to power is the stuff of legends like Rasputin
he has never been good with Verdi and Salzburg which hardly gets it right under the current leadership asked him for Simon Boccanegra only a few years ago which was awful – so don’t expect a great Nabucco except you get Muti
Sorry, that’s not true, that Gergiev is never good with Verdi, and you should not only judge him from the Salzburg Simon Boccanegra.
I have him heard many times conducting Verdi, at the Mariinsky and elsewhere, and found his interpretation of operas like Otello, Aida, Falstaff, Attila, Don Carlo etc always very impressive, not to forget the Verdi-Requiem.
Or he is irrelevant, just standing there and waving hands while the orchestra plays regardless.
Quite a feat, but why that horrible work?
Little more than a massively overhyped formerly slightly impressive interpreter of Russian repertoire (and no other nation’s) and current and ongoing war criminal.
What makes him a war criminal? It probably feels good for you saying it, but it‘s not something one can easily throw at others. What acts of criminal warfare has he committed? Get a grip on reality.
He serves Putin with just as much servility as Goebbels did Hitler, an infinite propaganda service to this criminal regime. Surely he is COMPLICIT in war crimes in Ukraine, Crimea etc.
Tamino, he is not a war criminal but he is apparently friends with war criminals and works for the glory of war criminals. Don’t do a Richard Strauss or a Furtwangler. Learn from their mistakes.
War criminal, really?
A noon performance of Nabucco….nobody wants that.
How does he do it? Cocaine and ego.
And he’s not capable of conducting even one. Or any other non-Russian music for that matter.