Valery Gergiev

Gergiev at the 2010 Time 100 Gala

Valery Abisalovich Gergiev PAR (Russian: Валерий Абисалович Гергиев, Ossetic: Гергити Абисали фурт Валери/Gergiti Abisali Furt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.

Early life

Gergiev, born in Moscow, is the son of Tamara Tatarkanovna and Abisal Zaurbekovich. He and his siblings were raised in Vladikavkaz in their native North Ossetia in the Caucasus. He had his first piano lessons in secondary school before going on to study at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Leningrad from 1972 to 1977. His principal conducting teacher was Prof. Ilya Musin (Илья Мусин), one of the greatest conductor-makers in Russian musical history. His sister, Larissa Gergieva, is a pianist and director of the Mariinsky's singers' academy.

Career

In 1978, he became assistant conductor at the Kirov Opera, now the Mariinsky Opera, under Yuri Temirkanov, where he made his debut conducting Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace. He was chief conductor of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra from 1981 to 1985 – the year he made his debut in the United Kingdom, along with pianist Evgeny Kissin and violinists Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin at the Lichfield Festival.

Gergiev in Brussels in 2007.

In 1991, for the first time, Gergiev conducted a western European opera company with the Bavarian State Opera in a performance of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov in Munich. In the same year, he made his American début, performing War and Peace with the San Francisco Opera. Since then, he has conducted both operatic and orchestral repertoire across the world. He also participates in numerous music festivals, including the White Nights in St. Petersburg.

He became chief conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky in 1988, and overall director of the company, appointed by the Russian government, in 1996. In addition to his artistic work with the Mariinsky, Gergiev has worked in fundraising for such projects as the recently built 1100-seat Mariinsky Hall, and intends to renovate the Mariinsky Theatre completely by 2010.

From 1995 to 2008, Gergiev was principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1997, he became principal guest conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His contract there ran until the 2007–2008 season, and his premieres included a new version of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, revised and reorchestrated by Igor Buketoff in a manner faithful to Mussorgsky's intentions (unlike the Rimsky-Korsakov revision mostly used for many years until the 1960s or 1970s).

In 2002, he was featured in one scene in the film Russian Ark, directed by Alexander Sokurov and filmed at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 2003, he initiated and conducted at the Mariinsky Theatre the first complete cycle of Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung to be staged in Russia for over 90 years. The production's design and concept reflects many aspects of Ossetian culture. Gergiev conducted this production in Cardiff in 2006 at the Wales Millennium Centre, in Costa Mesa, California in October 2006 in the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and in July 2007 in Lincoln Center, New York City to great acclaim and completely sold-out houses.

In 1988, Gergiev guest-conducted the London Symphony Orchestra for the first time. In his next appearance with the LSO in 2004, he conducted the seven symphonies of Sergei Prokofiev. This engagement led to his appointment in 2005 as the Orchestra's fifteenth principal conductor, succeeding Sir Colin Davis effective January 1, 2007. Gergiev's initial contract with the LSO was for 3 years. His first official concert as principal conductor of the LSO was on 23 January 2007. This was originally scheduled for 13 January, but was postponed due to Gergiev's illness.

In October 2007, he took part in a unique holiday project featured in the 100th anniversary issue of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. A concert by Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra featuring piano virtuoso Lola Astanova became a part of a $1.59 million fantasy gift. The super-concert was said to be hosted by the Emmy-winning American television personality Regis Philbin.

In June 2011, Gergiev assumed a highly prominent reformist role as chairman of the International Tchaikovsky Competition. He replaced academic judges with famous performers and introduced an openness to the process, arranging for all performances to be streamed live and free on the internet and for the judges to speak their minds in public as and whenever they wished. The contest was considered a great personal triumph. In January 2013 he let it be known that he would be stepping down from the LSO position at the end of his contract at the end of 2015.

Gergiev's conducting style is considered by many to be abrasive yet passionate. He is thought of as a "driven" conductor who is at his best in highly dramatic works. Curiously, he often conducts using a toothpick for a baton, as can be seen in his performances of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, Hector Belioz's Harold en Italie, and Verdi's overture to La Forza del Destino on YouTube. He said his favorite composer was Sergei Prokofiev in his DVD recording of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite. He was awarded the 2006 Polar Music Prize together with Led Zeppelin.

Social and political involvement

Valery Gergiev's requiem concert in Tskhinvali. 21 August 2008.

In April 2007, Gergiev was one of eight conductors of British orchestras to endorse the 10-year classical music outreach manifesto, "Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st century", to increase the presence of classical music in the UK, including giving free entry to all British schoolchildren to a classical music concert.

He has also been a consistent supporter of peace in the Caucasus, particularly in the conflict between the Georgian central government and South Ossetia. After the 2004 Beslan school massacre, Gergiev appealed on television for calm and against revenge. He conducted concerts to commemorate the victims of the massacre.

During the 2008 South Ossetia war, Gergiev accused the Georgian government of massacring ethnic Ossetians, triggering the conflict with Russia. He came to Tskhinvali and conducted a concert near the ruined building of the South Ossetian Parliament as tribute to the victims of the war.

Personal life

In 1999, Gergiev married the musician Natalya Dzebisova, who is 27 years his junior and also a native Ossetian. They have three children, two boys and a girl. From time to time he has been reported to be a friend of Vladimir Putin, and they have been said to be godfathers to each other's children. But in a letter to The Daily Telegraph, he rejected the notion that he and Putin were each other's children's godfathers. 

Recordings

Gergiev has focused on recording Russian composers' works, both operatic and symphonic, including Mikhail Glinka, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky and Rodion Shchedrin. Most of his recordings, on the Philips label, are with the Kirov Orchestra, but he has also recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic. A recent undertaking, the complete Prokofiev Symphonies, is with the London Symphony Orchestra. He is also in the process of recording the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler with the London Symphony Orchestra; all are being recorded live in concert and will be issued on the London Symphony Orchestra Live label. In 2009, Gergiev and the Mariinsky launched a Mariinsky Live record label (being distributed by London Symphony Orchestra Live), with the first two recordings featuring music by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Gergiev's recording of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with London Symphony Orchestra on LSO live in 2010 was the winner of the Orchestral category and the Disc of the Year of the 2011 BBC Music Magazine Awards.

Discography

Ballets

Album	Orchestra	Label	Discs	Release Year
PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet (complete ballet)	Kirov	Philips	2	1991
PROKOFIEV: Romeo and Juliet (complete ballet)	LSO	LSO Live	2	2010
RAVEL: Daphnis et Chloé (complete ballet) (with Pavane pour une infante défunte and Boléro)	LSO	LSO Live	1	2010
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird (L'Oiseau de feu) (Complete ballet)	Kirov	Philips	1	1998
STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring (Le sacre du printemps) (with Scriabin's The Poem of Ecstasy)	Kirov	Philips	1	2001
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Sleeping Beauty (complete ballet)	Kirov	Philips	3	1993
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker (complete ballet)	Kirov	Philips	1	1998
TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake (complete ballet) (Highlights available separately)	Mariinsky	Decca	2	2007

Operas

Album	Orchestra	Label	Discs	Release Year
BARTÓK: Bluebeard's Castle	LSO	LSO Live	1	2009
BORODIN: Prince Igor	Kirov	Philips	3	1995
DONIZETTI: Lucia di Lammermoor	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	2	2011
GLINKA: Ruslan and Ludmila	Kirov	Philips	3	1997
MUSSORGSKY: Boris Godunov (1869 & 1872 version)	Kirov	Philips	5	1999
MUSSORGSKY: Khovanshchina	Kirov	Philips	3	1992
PROKOFIEV: The Love for Three Oranges	Kirov	Philips	2	2001
PROKOFIEV: Semyon Kotko	Kirov	Philips	2	2000
PROKOFIEV: The Gambler	Kirov	Philips	2	1999
PROKOFIEV: The Fiery Angel	Kirov	Philips	2	1995
PROKOFIEV: War and Peace	Kirov	Philips	3	1993
PROKOFIEV: Betrothal in a Monastery	Kirov	Philips	3	1998
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Sadko	Kirov	Philips	3	1994
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: The Maid of Pskov	Kirov	Philips	2	1997
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh	Kirov	Philips	3	1999
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Kashchey the Immortal	Kirov	Philips	1	1999
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: The Tsar's Bride	Kirov	Philips	2	1999
SHOSTAKOVICH: The Nose	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	2	2009
STRAVINSKY: Oedipus rex (Comes with Ballet Les noces)	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	1	2010
TCHAIKOVSKY: Pique Dame	Kirov	Philips	3	1993
TCHAIKOVSKY: Mazeppa	Kirov	Philips	3	1998
TCHAIKOVSKY: Iolanta	Kirov	Philips	2	1998
VERDI: La Forza del Destino (1862 original version)	Kirov	Philips	3	1997
WAGNER: Parsifal	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	4	2010

Orchestral Works

Album	Orchestra	Label	Discs	Release Year
BERLIOZ: Symphonie Fantastique, La Mort de Cléopâtre (Soprano: Olga Borodina)	VPO	Philips	1	2003
BORODIN: Symphonies No. 1 & 2	RPhO	Polygram	1	1991
DEBUSSY: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, La Mer, Jeux	LSO	LSO Live	1	2011
MAHLER: Symphony No. 1	LSO	LSO Live	1	2008
MAHLER: Symphony Nos. 2 & 10 (Adagio)	LSO	LSO Live	2	2009
MAHLER:Symphony No. 3	LSO	LSO Live	2	2008
MAHLER: Symphony No. 4	LSO	LSO Live	1	2010
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5	LSO	LSO Live	1	2011
MAHLER: Symphony No. 6	LSO	LSO Live	1	2008
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7	LSO	LSO Live	1	2008
MAHLER: Symphony No. 8	LSO	LSO Live	1	2009
MAHLER: Symphony No. 9	LSO	LSO Live	1	2011
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition	VPO	Philips	1	2002
PROKOFIEV: Scythian Suite, Alexander Nevsky	Kirov	Philips	1	2003
PROKOFIEV: Completes Symphonies (No. 1–7) (No. 4: 1930 + 1947 Versions)	LSO	Philips	4	2006
RACHMANINOV: Symphony No. 2	Kirov	Philips	1	1994
RACHMANINOV: Symphony No. 2	LSO	LSO Live	1	2010
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade, BORODIN: In the Steppes of Central Asia, BALAKIREV: Islamey	Kirov	Philips	1	2001
SHOSTAKOVICH: The War Symphonies (No. 4–9) Each one available separately	Kirov	Philips	5	2005
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies No. 1 & 15	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	1	2009
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies No. 2 & 11	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	1	2010
SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies No. 3 & 10	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	1	2011
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird – SCRIABIN: Prometheus	Kirov	Philips	1	1998
STRAVINSKY: The Rite of Spring – SCRIABIN: The Poem of Ecstasy	Kirov	Philips	1	2001
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphonies No. 4, 5, 6Each one available separately	VPO	Philips	3	2005
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5	VPO	Philips	1	1999
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 6, Francesca da Rimini, Romeo and Juliet	Kirov	Philips	1	2000
TCHAIKOVSKY: 1812 Overture and others	Kirov	Philips	1	1994
TCHAIKOVSKY: 1812 Overture, Moscow Cantata, Marche Slave, Coronation March, Danish Overture	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	1	2009

Orchestral works with soloists

ALBUM	SOLOIST	ORCHESTRA	LABEL	DISCS	RELEASE YEAR
BRAHMS & KORNGOLD: Violin Concertos	Nikolaj Znaider	VPO	RCA Red Seal	1	2009
Lang Lang: Liszt, My Piano Hero (LISZT: Piano Concerto No. 1)	Lang Lang	VPO	Sony	1	2011
PROKOFIEV: Complete Piano Concertos (No. 1–5)	Alexander Toradze	Kirov	Philips	2	1998
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No.2, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini	Lang Lang	Mariinsky	DG	1	2003
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No.3, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini	Denis Matsuev	Mariinsky	Mariinsky Live	1	2010
TCHAIKOVSKY & MIASKOVSKY: Violin Concertos	Vadim Repin	Mariinsky	Philips	1	2003
TCHAIKOVSKY: Variation on a Rococo Theme, PROKOFIEV: Sinfonia Concertante	Gautier Capuçon	Mariinsky	Virgin	1	2010

Vocal Works

ALBUM	SOLOIST	ORCHESTRA	LABEL	DISCS	RELEASE YEAR
Tchaikovsky & Verdi Arias	Dmitri Hvorostovsky	Kirov	Philips	1	1990
Tchaikovsky & Verdi Arias	Galina Gorchakova	Kirov	Philips	1	1996
Homage: The Age Of The Diva	Renée Fleming	Mariinsky	Decca	1	2007
Russian Album	Anna Netrebko	Mariinsky	DG	1	2006
PROKOFIEV: Ivan The Terrible Cantata		RPhO	Philips	1	1998

Videos

DVD

• Valery Gergiev in Rehearsal and Performance
• 60 Minutes: The Wild Man of Music, 2004.
• Valery Gergiev Conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in Prokofiev, Schnittke & Stravinsky, 2003.
• Verdi: La forza del destino, Marinsky Theatre Orchestra, 1998.
• Rimsky-Korsakov: Sadko, Kirov Opera, 2006.
• Puccini: Turandot, Vienna Philharmonic, 2006.
• Prokofiev: Betrothal in a Monastery, Kirov Opera, 2005.
• Shostakovich against Stalin, 2005.
• "All the Russias – a musical journey": a five-part documentary through the tradition and heritage of Russian music.
• "Gergiev Conducts Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem" Kringelborn, Kwiecien, Swedish Radio Choir, Rotterdam Philharmonic, 2008
• Tschaikovsky: Eugene Onegin; Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renee Fleming, Ramon Vargas, Metropolitan Opera, 2007

VHS

• Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Kirov Opera, 1993.
• Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame, Kirov Opera, 1994.
• Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame, Acts 1 and 2, Kirov Opera, 1992.
• Mussorgsky: Kovanshchina, Kirov Orchestra, 1994.
• Prokofiev: Fiery Angel, Polygram Video, 1996.

Honours and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

Russian

• Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation (1 May 2013)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland;
  • 3rd class (24 April 2003) – for outstanding contribution to music culture
  • 4th class (2 May 2008) – for outstanding contribution to the development of domestic and world music and theatre, many years of creative activity
• Order of Friendship (12 April 2000) – for services to the state, many years of fruitful work in the field of culture and art, a great contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation between nations
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg" (2003)
• Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (15 January 2009) – for the concert orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre under Valery Gergiev rukovodskvom in support of victims during the Georgian-Ossetian conflict
• Medal "For Valiant Labour" (Tatarstan) – for a fruitful cooperation with the Republic of Tatarstan, an active part in national projects in the fields of culture, outstanding contribution to the development of domestic and world music
• Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation – for particular services to the State and its people. The new honour was created 29 March 2013, and first awarded on 1 May 2013.

Foreign awards

• Order of St. Mashtots (Armenia, 2000)
• Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2001)
• Order "Danaker" (2001, Kyrgyzstan)
• Medal "Dank" (Kyrgyzstan, 1998)
• Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (2005)
• Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class (Ukraine, May 10, 2006) – a significant personal contribution to the development of cultural ties between Ukraine and Russia, high professionalism and many years of fruitful creative activity
• Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2001)
• Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland (2006)
• Officer of the Legion of Honour (France, 2007)
• Order of Arts and Letters (France)
• Order of the Rising Sun with Golden Rays and Ribbon (Japan, 2006)
• Order "Uatsamonga" (South Ossetia, January 29, 2009) – for courage and great patriotism, invaluable assistance and support to the people of South Ossetia during the Georgian aggression disaster in August 2008
• Honoured Worker of Kazakhstan (2011)
• Silver medal in Valencia (Spain, 2006)
• Medal Pro Mikkeli (Mikkeli, Finland, 2005)
• Medal Johan van Oldenbarnefelta (2008, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
• Gold Medal for Merit to Culture (Gloria Artis) (Poland, 2011)

Religious awards

• Order of Holy Prince Daniel of Moscow, 3rd class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2003)
• Order of St. Vladimir (Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 2001)
• Medal of St. Sergius of Radonezh, 1st class (Russian Orthodox Church, 2010).

Community Awards

• Commemorative Gold Medal "olive branch with Diamonds" (the Russian-Armenian (Slavic) State University)

Titles

• People's Artist of Russia (June 20, 1996) – for the great achievements in art
• People's Artist of Ukraine (2004)
• People's Artist of North Ossetia – Alania
• Honorary citizen of St. Petersburg (2007), Vladikavkaz (2003), Lyon and Toulouse
• "Conductor of the Year" (1994) awarded by a jury of the international organization International Classical Music Awards
• UNESCO Artist for Peace (2003)
• Honorary Doctor of St. Petersburg State University
• Honorary Professor of Moscow State University (2001)

Award

• State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of art and literature in 1993 (7 December 1993) and 1998 (June 4, 1999)
• Prize awarded by the President of the Russian Federation in the field of literature and art in 2001 (January 30, 2002)
• Winner of the country's theatrical prize "Golden Mask" (five times from 1996 to 2000)
• Winner of the Theatre Award of Saint Petersburg "Gold soffit" (four times; 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003)
• Russian opera prize «Casta diva» for the best performance – "Parsifal" (1998)
• Winner of Tsarskoye Selo Art Prize (1999)
• Shostakovich Prize (Yuri Bashmet Foundation, 1997)
• Royal Swedish Academy of Music Polar Music Prize (2005)
• Herbert von Karajan Prize winner (Baden-Baden, 2006)
• Laureate of the Foundation of American-Russian Cultural Cooperation (2006)

See also

• Ballerina (documentary)

External links

• Valery Gergiev Official website (Russian)
• Valery Gergiev Official Performance Schedule
• Valery Gergiev at Allmusic
• Rotterdam Philharmonic Gergiev Festival [1]
• Interview with Valery Gergiev by Bruce Duffie, October 16, 1992
• Biography of and CDs by Valery Gergiev by cosmopolis.ch

Cultural offices
Preceded by David Khanjian	Principal Conductor, Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra 1981–1985	Succeeded by Rafael Mangassarian
Preceded by Yuri Temirkanov	Principal Conductor and Music Director, Kirov Opera 1988–present	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Jeffrey Tate	Principal Conductor, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra 1995–2008	Succeeded by Yannick Nézet-Séguin

• Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class (Ukraine, May 10, 2006) – a significant personal contribution to the development of cultural ties between Ukraine and Russia, high professionalism and many years of fruitful creative activity