While eating dinner, Maestro Gergiev stopped by our table to say hello. He was so friendly, welcoming, and warm.

Keryn Wouden and Matt Honegger at St. Basil’s Basilica in Moscow.

Security was tight and many of the entrances/exits had been blocked off so the police could manage the flow of people. At first it seemed we might be trapped, but we eventually found our way through the maze and into Red Square.

Coming into the Russia, we had been told about the Eastern Orthodox Easter Festival; what we didn’t know, however, was that May 9 is “Victory Day,” a huge national holiday celebrating the end of World War II. The Square was decorated for the parade earlier that day with large banners covering buildings throughout the square. It was a festive atmosphere with people singing and celebrating on the square. The crowds would ebb and flow as people paused to sing along, and then went on their way.

Tchaikovsky

Eventually we looped around back to the hotel where we were sent directly to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory for the Mariinsky orchestra concert. It was a beautiful concert. The Gavrilin War Letters included a full choir, boys choir, and soloists. Denis Matsuev performed the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with ease, and was convinced to perform an encore before the end of the first half. They ended the concert with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, playing with immense passion and clarity. Matt Honegger put it the best when he said, “It feels unreal to be sitting here in this hall at the conservatory where Tchaikovsky attended, listening to his music and looking up at his portrait on the wall.”

(from left to right) Matt Honeggar, Bridget Rodino, Keryn Wouden, Zack Ellis pre-concert at the Tchaikovsky Concervatory Theater

As I, Zack Ellis*, prepared to pack my bags to travel with the Mariinsky Orchestra, I learned a lesson about the serendipity of life. In a small hamlet 4,500 miles from Moscow, a monastery called St. Tikhon’s keeps Russian Orthodox traditions alive in Pennsylvania. On May 5, I had the pleasure of attending their midnight Easter service, and received an early dose of Russian culture.

Unlike western churches, Russian Orthodox still follows the Julian Calendar. This often results in their Easter being celebrated several weeks after the Catholic Easter. This year, it happened to fall on May 5. The service began shortly before midnight.

Everybody in attendance held a lit candle as we stood in the nave of the church. The lights were dimmed, and we gathered around a funeral shrine dedicated to Christ. The deacon spoke and the choir sang a somber chant before we formed a funeral procession outside. An iron bell tolled while we circled the church three times. Upon returning to the door, the deacon climbed the steps and issued a proclamation in Church Slavonic: “Христос воскресе! (Christ is risen!).” The congregation responds: “Воистину воскресе! (Truly, He is risen!).” This was repeated in Greek and English due to the makeup of the congregation. The choir sang and this joyous exchange took place several more times before we re-entered the church.

The nave had become bright and cheerful. In place of the funeral shrine were bright celebratory icons of the resurrection. Bathed in light, we could see the icons and imagery upon the iconostasis – the decorative wall between the nave and the sanctuary. The priest began the hymn, “Christ has Risen from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and has bestowed life upon those in the tombs,” and the congregation joyously sang this motif throughout the service. This progressed to the church’s traditional liturgy.

Many people fast for forty days prior to the holiday, giving up meat, eggs, and cheese in a test of self-discipline. Upon conclusion of the service, everybody met in a hall and we broke the fast. Meat and cheese abounded. The celebration continued through the night, and the congregation retired before sunrise.

Easter festivities often continue long after the holiday. Such is the case for the Mariinsky Easter Festival. Music and celebration transcend national boundaries. Although we ventured to the far side of the world, we still feel connected to home.

*Zack Ellis is an undergraduate at Northwestern University

Beautiful flowers every where we look!

Very spicy mustard

We have eaten a few meals on the train so far and each one has been delicious. Some of our favorite dishes have been the kasha, a white porridge breakfast staple, and borscht, a traditional Russian beet soup. One adventure was that the spicy mustard served with our breakfast-just a little bit and your eyes water.

Breakfast on board the Easter Festival Train

Sleeping on a train is surprisingly comfortable. Keryn and I are both studying music performance at Northwestern and love experiencing the life of a traveling musician. Most of our logisitics are arranged by Katya Gorbacheva from the Mariinsky Foundation of America. Her bright, energetic personality keeps us going throughout the day between the numerous destinations.  Nina, our car’s personal stewardess, keeps the environment homey, waking us up in the morning asking, “Kafe or chey?” (Coffee or tea?) We love waking up to her warm smile.

As we travel through the countryside, we see Russia’s beautiful birch forests and great expanses of plains. Occasionally we roll past small villages. The contrasts between these communities and the great cities of the Golden Circle—the cluster of metropolises within 300km of Moscow—are remarkable. Moscow is one of the most modern cities in the world. Glass and steel skyscrapers rise past the old cement high-rises in a display of urban evolution. Meanwhile, clusters of wooden cottages in the forest huddle together as if they’re trying to keep warm. High-tech subways and trams carry Muscovites to shopping malls and symphonies, while the rural Russian trusts his rusty old motorcycle to meander between strolling villagers along a single dirt road.

But the real attraction is the vast and comprehensive art collection. We saw rooms dedicated to Titian, Leonardo, Rembrandt, and a whole slew of medieval handicrafts, furniture, and jewelry. Sculptures, vases (in the deepest and most incredible hues of blue and green), intricately painted wooden floors, tables made of precious stones, mosaics, and thousands of other items adorn the painting galleries. The museum also displays hundreds (perhaps thousands) of portraits of important men in Russian public life. In contrast, paintings of women idealize the female form into studies of pure emotion and gesture. Such a difference is obvious to anyone looking at portraits, but made all the more important by the fact that these museums were built by female rulers. Elizabeth and Catherine the Great were certainly far from anonymous personalities.

As if to continue our encounter with imperial wealth, that night we went to see Placido Domingo sing Nabucco at the old Mariinsky Theater. In contrast, to the openness and sleekness of the new stage, this theater breathes an Old World aesthetic.

Matt Honegger and Cydne Gillard at the old Mariinsky Theatre

We could have almost jumped onto the stage and into Placido’s arms we were so close! Like the halls of the Hermitage, the old Mariinsky is trimmed in gold (and a pale green color on its exterior). For a night, we sat where Imperial Russia’s elite would have sat, just as earlier we had strolled the same corridors they had strolled. Tonight we leave for Moscow.

Herring Vendor

After a delicious lunch at the Shtolle, where we were offered pies filled with meat, cheese, and cowberries, we went to the first full opera production at Mariinsky II – Tchaikovsky’s 1892 Iolanta. Iolanta, the daughter of Good King René of Provence, has been blind her whole life but doesn’t know it. Her father has shielded her away in a magic garden, where her companions are forbidden on pain of death to ever mention her disability. The king brings back with him a Moorish physician, Ibn-Hakia, who suggests in the aria “Two Worlds” that Iolanta can only be cured if she is made aware of her blindness. But the king says no, fearing for his daughter’s unhappiness if the treatment does not work. Meanwhile, the Duke of Burgundy, Robert (who is betrothed to Iolanta), arrives in search of King René, intending to break off his engagement in order to marry his true love, Mathilde of Lorraine. His friend, Vaudémont, a count, however sees Iolanta and falls in love with her. In an duet, he asks Iolanta for a red rose, but realizes that she is blind after she admits to not knowing what red is. He describes the beauty of light and vision to Iolanta. But her father arrives and discovers what Vaudémont has done. Iolanta, now made aware of what she is missing, decides to undergo the doctor’s treatment. Driven by her great love for the count, Iolanta miraculously gains sight, leading the ensemble into a stunning finale. Anna Netrebko sang the role of Iolanta. In keeping with the theater’s vision, full use was made of rotating and moving stages, set against a visually arresting digital backdrop.

Past Postcards: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Matt Honneger, Northwestern student (and one-time WFMT intern) with Krzysztof Penderecki

Truly a medley, we saw and heard the opera chorus, the children’s chorus, the ballet company, and a star-studded list of soloists. The acoustics did not disappoint – although we were sitting near the top of the hall, the balance between the singers and orchestra was magnificent. Anna Netrebko sang an aria from Verdi’s Macbeth, Placido Domingo sang Siegmund’s aria from Die Walküre, and Yuri Bashmet played Saint-Saen’s Le Cygne. The chorus sang a stunning Coronation Scene from Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. This grand choral spectacle filled the hall with shouts of “Slava, Slava!” (“Glory, glory!”) – a theme that so symbolized Russia that Beethoven used it in his Op. 59, No. 2 quartet written for the Russian Count Razumovsky.

The ballet company performed the first couple scenes of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (which features prominently on the tour program, too, as the piece approaches its centennial) in front of a projection of Nicholas Roeric’s famous original stage designs. This performance began in reconstructions of the original costumes dancing to Najinsky’s original choreography (with all of its stomping and sharp, distorted angles), but then the stage began to move, bringing out a second group of dancers. This group, though, was in simple, monochromatic gray clothing dancing to a modern choreography – history changed before our very eyes! Méphistophélès’ aria from Gounod’s Faust, “Le Veau d’Or,” sung by René Pape, followed – a role that Igor Stravinsky’s father, Fyodor, had been famous for at the old Mariinsky Theatre.

But nothing could beat the closing number, the finale to Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. Iolanta, the daughter of Good King René of Provence, was born blind, but finally wins sight through the power of love. The finale describes her first time being able to see. She sees her father, then she sees her lover, and finally the sky. Like Iolanta seeing the heavens for the first time, we hear the full force of all the Mariinsky ensembles – the orchestra, soloists, a huge chorus, and on-stage brass reinforcements. What a way to open a stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNlLSAkUi-k

Across the street from the theater are statues of Glinka and Rimsky-Korsakov, and the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Founded in 1862 by Anton Rubenstein, the Conservatory has trained or employed many of Russia’s greatest musical figures.

Mikhail Glinka

St. Petersburg is a sprawling, historic, and uniform city (Dostoevsky called it “the most theoretical and intentional town on the whole terrestrial globe”), so how would this new, modern opera theater fit into the surrounding architecture? The architects matched that pastel Mariinsky green with the green found in the lobby of the new building. Because the exterior walls are glass, the green of the old theater just seems to leap across the canal and blend into the new building.

Old and New Mariinsky Theatres

These glass exterior walls frame a stunning interior, covered in back-lit onyx and accented by crystal chandeliers. Lit up at night, the exterior walls of the hall itself (an almost free-floating structure inside the larger building), according to the architect Jack Diamond,project a sense of Petersburg’s exuberant churches – a cathedral to music, a musical “holy of holies.”

This building spans some 850,000 square feet, including not just an opera house, but also smaller performance spaces (up to seven performances may occur simultaneously), numerous rehearsal rooms, a full-service stage shop and production facility, a hotel, cafeterias and restaurants. Of course, for performers awaiting their cues, the green rooms are Mariinsky green.

Mariinsky II, the theatre

Stepping now inside the hall itself, we are struck by the intimacy between stage, pit, and audience. A horseshoe shape defines this 2,000-seat hall, all designed to exacting acoustical specifications. But the backstage is perhaps the most incredible. There we see some tantalizing hints of tonight’s performance: a replica of the old theater, some larger-than-life suits of armor, and a whole fleet of old-fashioned carriages lining the backstage space, which is itself the depth of two normal stages. We can’t wait to see tonight’s performances!