Hi °C | Lo °C Traditionally, July has always been a lean month for classical music enthusiasts so it’s a good time to look ahead.
Amongst those tempting us to do so is the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s which recently offered us an exciting glimpse of what’s on offer later this year.
One of the most outstanding musicians of his generation, Valery Gergiev will conduct the internationally renowned Mariinsky Orchestra of St Petersburg at the festival’s opening concert.
Gergiev pursues a famously challenging schedule, and maintains parallel interests both as an independent conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra and as the Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky (Kirov) Companies.
The Mariinsky Theatre is the oldest musical theatre in Russia, one of its most important emblems and the embodiment of the legends and spirit of St Petersburg. In 1999 the Mariinsky Opera Chorus travelled to Northern Ireland to give a Concert for Peace in Omagh. For that reason, both the festival administrators and Maestro Gergiev believed that, 10 years on, 2009 was the perfect year in which to make a return.
Tickets for the opening concert of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s will go on sale at the end of July.
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