MPAC's 20th Anniversary Concert

MORRISTOWN — Valery Gergiev, the Russian conductor who performed at the very first concert of the newly reopened Community Theatre on Sept. 29, 1994, returns for the first time in 20 years, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Theatre, now the Mayo Performing Arts Center, on Friday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $69 to $150.

The program consists of:
Shchedrin: Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 "Naughty Little Limericks"

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, op 44

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (arr. Ravel)

Denis Matsuev, piano
The concert features music from Mariinsky's latest release, "Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition," "Night on Bare Mountain," "Songs and Dances of Death." Gergiev is at his finest conducting these paragons of Mussorgsky's work, featured alongside which are the seldom heard "Songs and Dances of Death," composed during the years 1875 to 1877 and left languishing unpublished during the composer's lifetime. One of Mussorgsky's most powerful compositions, each song deals with death in a poetic manner reflecting experiences not uncommon in 19th century Russia: child death, death in youth, drunken misadventure and war.

Valery Gergiev is Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Principal Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the World Orchestra for Peace, Chair of the Organizational Committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Honorary President of the Edinburgh International Festival and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the St. Petersburg State University.

The Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre enjoys a long and distinguished history as one of the oldest musical institutions in Russia. Founded in the 18th century during the reign of Peter the Great and housed in St. Petersburg's famed Mariinsky Theatre since 1860, the Orchestra entered its "golden age" in the second half of the 19th century under the musical direction of Eduard Napravnik, whose leadership for more than a half century (1863-1916) secured its reputation as one of the finest in Europe.

Numerous internationally famed musicians have conducted the Orchestra, among them Hans von Bülow, Felix Mottl, Felix Weingartner, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Otto Nikisch, Willem Mengelberg, Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter, Erich Kleiber, Hector Berlioz, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg.

Renamed the "Kirov" during the Soviet era, the Orchestra continued to maintain its high artistic standards under the leadership of Yevgeny Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov. The leadership of Valery Gergiev has enabled the Theatre to forge important relationships for the Ballet and Opera to appear in the world's greatest opera houses and theatres, among them the Metropolitan Opera, the Kennedy Center, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the San Francisco Opera, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Salzburg Festival and La Scala in Milan. The success of the Orchestra's frequent tours has created the reputation of what one journalist referred to as "the world's first global orchestra." Since its US debut in 1992 the orchestra has made 17 tours of North America, including a 2006 celebration of the complete Shostakovich symphonies, a Cycle of Stage Works of Prokofiev in 2008, major works of Hector Berlioz in February/March 2010, a Centennial Mahler Cycle in Carnegie Hall in October 2010, and in October 2011, the Mariinsky Orchestra opened Carnegie Hall's 120th season with a cycle of Tchaikovsky Symphonies which was also performed throughout the US and in Canada. Maestro Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra returns to North America in October 2013 in a tour celebrating the maestro's 60th birthday with works by Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.

Maestro Gergiev established the Mariinsky Label in 2009 and has since released more than 15 CDs including "Shostakovich Piano Concerto Nos. 1&2," "Symphonies Nos. 1&15," "Nos. 2&11," "Nos. 3&10" and "The Nose," "Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3" and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini," "Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture," Shchedrin "The Enchanted Wanderer" and "Piano Concerto No. 5," Stravinsky "Oedipus Rex" and "Les Noces," Wagner "Parsifal," Donizetti "Lucia di Lammermoor," and DVD/Blu-ray of Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6 and Balanchine's ballet "Jewels." The 2012 recording release features Massenet's "Don Quichotte."

The Concert is sponsored by Goldberg Segalla. Major support of the 20th anniversary season has been provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, F.M. Kirby Foundation, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

The Mayo Performing Arts Center is located at 100 South St. in Morristown. For more information and tickets contact the box office at 973-539-8008 or visit www.mayoarts.org.