Valery Gergiev: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Valery Gergiev is an outstanding conductor of our time. He is the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre. He is also Principal Conductor of the London Symphony and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras.

Biography

Valery Gergiev was born in Moscow in 1953. The future conductor grew up in North Ossetia. There he graduated from the School of Music. From 1972 to 1977 Valery Abisalovich studied at the Leningrad Conservatory in the class of Ilya Musin. While still a student, he took part in the prestigious International Conducting Competition and won the second prize. After graduating from the conservatory, V. Gergiev began his career at the Kirov Theater as an assistant to the chief conductor, whose post at that time was occupied by the famous Y. Temirkanov. In 1981, he headed the Armenian Symphony Orchestra, which he led for 4 years. In 1988, Y. Temirkanov joined the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, and Valery Abisalovich took his place at the Kirov Theatre.

V. Gergiev conducts festivals: P. I. Tchaikovsky, Paschal, M. P. Mussorgsky, R. Wagner, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. S. Prokofiev.

Back in the 90s of the 20th century, Valery Abisalovich began to often perform abroad. From 1995 to 2008 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He performed extensively at the Metropolitan Opera. In 2007, V. Gergiev took over as chief conductor of the famous London Symphony Orchestra.

Valery Abisalovich conducts opera performances, concerts and symphonies.

Since April 2010, V. Gergiev has been Dean of the Faculty of Arts at St. Petersburg State University. Since 2013, the conductor has been chairman of the All-Russian Choral Society.

Valery Gergiev is a member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art in Russia.

Family

The father of the maestro - Abisal Zaurbekovich Gergiev - veteran of the Great Patriotic War, battalion commander. Mother - Tamara Timofeevna Lagkueva. Sisters - Larisa and Tamara, the first of which is the People's Artist of Russia and Ukraine.

Gergiev Valery Abisalovich and his wife Natalya Dzebisova started a family in 1999. The wife of the maestro is also related to the beautiful - she is a graduate of the art school in the city of Vladikavkaz. The couple have three children. The eldest son, Abisal, is named after V. Gergiev's father. The boy was born in 2000. The middle son, Valery, is named after the maestro himself. The year of his birth is 2001. And the youngest daughter is Tamara. The year of her birth is 2003. Valery Abisalovich also has an illegitimate daughter, Natalya, who was born in 1985.

In the photo presented in this article, Valery Gergiev with his wife and children.

Mariinsky

Valery Gergiev took charge of the Mariinsky Theater in 1996. To date, the troupe gives 760 performances a year. The Mariinsky Theater is the most actively touring theater in the world. Now the troupe works on three stages. These are: the historical, the Concert Hall and the Mariinsky-2 complex.

Thanks to V. Gergiev, the theater carefully preserves and restores the traditions of the past, and also actively explores new horizons. Valery Abisalovich raised a whole galaxy of singers who have reached the world level. He contributed to the expansion and enrichment of the theatre's repertoire. V. Gergiev also gives young contemporary composers the opportunity to realize themselves on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. Another merit of Valery Abisalovich is that today the troupe performs all operas in the original language. The Valery Gergiev Orchestra has enriched its repertoire. Now, in addition to operas and ballets, musicians perform works of other genres.

Munich Orchestra

In 2013, Valery Gergiev, by decree of the Munich authorities, was appointed head of the city's Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2015, he took up his duties. The initiative to appoint V. Gergiev as chief conductor came from the musicians of the orchestra. The maestro signed a contract for five years. The group's general director, Paul Muller, speaks of Valery Abisalovich as one of the most charismatic conductors of our time. He believes that the gift of V. Gergiev to achieve magical sound from musicians will provide the Munich orchestrawonderful future. P. Müller also hopes that the skill of Valery Abisalovich will influence not only the musicians, but also the public, and the entire musical life of the city of Munich as a whole.

The first concerts of the conductor together with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, opening the 2015-2016 season, took place on 17, 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24 September. The musicians performed the following works: Symphony No. 6 by P. I. Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev. The concerts were attended by soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Olga Borodina and violinist from Holland Janine Jansen.

Tour schedule

Valery Gergiev performs with his orchestras all over the world. Concerts with the participation of the conductor in the season 2015-2016:

• Austria, Linz. With the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.
• Germany. Frankfurt. With the Munich Philharmonic.
• Austria. Saint Florian. With the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.
• Germany. Essen. With the Munich Philharmonic.
• Switzerland. Lugano. With the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.
• The capital of Great Britain. With the London Symphony.
• Russia. St. Petersburg. Mariinsky Theatre.
• Austria. Vein. London Symphony Orchestra.
• UK. London. With the winners of the International Tchaikovsky Music Competition.
• Luxembourg. London Symphony Orchestra.
• UK. Birmingham. With the winners of the International Tchaikovsky Music Competition.
• France. Paris. London Symphony Orchestra.
• Germany. Munich. With the City Philharmonic Orchestra.
• America. New York. London Symphony Orchestra.
• Switzerland. Basel. With the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra.
• America. New York. With the winners of the Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Competition.
• The capital of France. With the Orchestra of Paris.
• Spain. Barcelona. With the Munich Philharmonic.
• America. New York. Vienna Philharmonic.
• Netherlands. Amsterdam. With the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
• America. Naples. Vienna Philharmonic.

Charity foundation

Conductor Valery Gergiev is the founder of a charitable foundation. The director is Sergey Vladimirovich Mazanov. The Valery Gergiev Foundation has existed since 2003. Its main task is to promote the Mariinsky Concert Hall, on the stage of which such world-famous celebrities as Y. Bashmet, P. Domingo, R. Fleming, A. Netrebko, D. Matsuev and others have performed over the 10 years of its existence. Thanks to the fund, it is planned to build new theater buildings and expand the functionality of existing premises. In the future, funds will be used to equip new artistic rooms, a swimming pool, a spa, conference rooms, a cafe, a music store and rehearsal rooms. With the money of the foundation, tours of the Mariinsky Theater around the world are also organized. Also, the V. Gergiev Foundation provides tremendous supportyoung talented musicians and artists, organizes free events, promotes professional education in the field of art.

Tchaikovsky Competition

Valery Gergiev heads the organizing committee of the International Tchaikovsky Competition of Musicians. The frequency of the event is once every 4 years. The purpose of the competition is to identify new talents. Creative competitions are held in the following speci alties: "solo singing", "violin", "piano" and "cello". For more than 50 years of its existence, the Tchaikovsky Competition has discovered a huge number of talented performers. For many, it was these creative competitions that became a good start, allowed them to receive the recognition of professionals, the love of the audience and make a brilliant career.

Easter Festival

Established by Valery Gergiev in 2002 with the support of Yury Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow. The festival gathers a huge audience of listeners every time. Here you can hear both well-known classical opuses and rare works by contemporary composers. As part of the festival, charity concerts are held. He sets himself the task of education and enlightenment. World celebrities take part in the concerts: Y. Bashmet, A. Netrebko, S. Roldugin, V. Feltsman, D. Matsuev, L. Kavakos, M. Pletnev and others.

Ranks and awards

The head of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev has received a huge number of awards and titles for achievements in the arts. He is a laureate of state awards of Russia. Has government awards in Italy, Germany, Japan, France, the Netherlands. In 1996 he received the title of People's Artist of Russia. He was awarded the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Valery Abisalovich is a laureate of the European award for supporting young talents. The President of Russia awarded the maestro the title of Hero of Labor. And also two orders "For Merit to the Fatherland" were awarded. The conductor holds the titles of President of the Edinburgh International Festival and Honorary Professor of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. And a huge number of titles, orders, medals, prizes and awards.