The musical world is forever in Valery Gergiev's debt for bringing to light a wealth of Russian operas that had been largely invisible to audiences in the West. With the formidable forces he has groomed at the Kirov Opera and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, he has given the operas spectacular productions that have demanded a critical re-thinking of the Russian repertoire. Not least among his accomplishments is his rehabilitation (or more accurately, his establishment for the first time) of Prokofiev's ...
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The musical world is forever in Valery Gergiev's debt for bringing to light a wealth of Russian operas that had been largely invisible to audiences in the West. With the formidable forces he has groomed at the Kirov Opera and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, he has given the operas spectacular productions that have demanded a critical re-thinking of the Russian repertoire. Not least among his accomplishments is his rehabilitation (or more accurately, his establishment for the first time) of Prokofiev's reputation as a major opera composer. Love for Three Oranges and War and Peace have hovered around the fringes of the repertoire, but the wit of Betrothal in a Monastery and the devastating power of The Fiery Angel (perhaps the composer's masterpiece) have shed new light on the extent of Prokofiev's dramatic gifts. Gergiev has proved himself a master of Prokofiev's many styles and there's not a weak performance among these six operas, constituting all but one of the composer's mature...
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