Welcome to Mikkeli Music Festival 2013
2013 is an important year for Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre. On May, the 2nd Maestro Gergiev will turn 60 years, on the same date one of the biggest project in St. Petersburg will be finished – the new stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will celebrate it´s inauguration. Though this company is one of the most sought-after of the world, every year some days are reserved for Mikkeli – this year between festivals in Berlin and New York.
It was the idea of Seppo Heikinheimo, the founder of Mikkeli Music Festival, to build bridges between Russia and Finland. Mikkeli, situated about 125 km far from the Russian border, has become the ideal meeting point between Finnish and Russian musicians. In this idyllic and dynamic festival, which could be called “Valery Gergiev and his Friends”, old and new friends will take part – from Russia pianists Denis Matsuev & Miroslav Kultyshev, viola player Yuri Bashmet, cellist Sergey Roldugin, basso Ildar Abdrazakov, the Moscow Soloists, from Armenia Sergey and Lusine Khachatryan, from White Russia basso Anatoli Sivko, from Finland the singers Arttu Kataja, Timo Riihonen, pianists Terhi Dostal, Olli Mustonen & Johannes Piirto, cellist Martti Rousi and the St. Michel Strings, conducted by Sasha Mäkilä. They will perform a program, which clearly shows two lines: the start of a Brahms cycle, to be continued in 2014, plus rarely performed tone poems by Russian composers like Balakirev and Tchaikovsky – a program with works, which have not been performed at Mikkeli Music Festival. With one important exception: 2013 will be 100 years since the world premiere of one of the most exciting works in the music literature, Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps.
We hope the audience will enjoy beautiful music in a relaxed mood, performed by world-class musicians.