Valery Gergiev
Biography
Born in the Russian republic of North Ossetia, Gergiev has spectacularly succeeded in combining his flair for high musical drama with the requirements of modern marketing.
Gergiev’s remarkable achievement has been to pull, cajole, and mesmerise the Kirov Opera through the post-Soviet economic collapse, and to re-establish its reputation, both in Russia and on tours, as one of the world’s great opera and ballet houses.
Music
He was assistant conductor at the Kirov Opera, now the Mariinsky Opera, from 1978, under Yuri Temirkanov, where he made his debut conducting Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace. He was chief conductor of the Armenian State Orchestra from 1981 until 1985.
In 1988 he became chief conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky and in 1995, he became principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1997, Gergiev became principal guest conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His current contract there runs through the 2007-2008 season.
His formidable firepower on the rostrum has generated memorable performances of opera (Mussorgsky, particularly) and of the great symphonic works of Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
He was awarded the 2006 Polar Music Prize together with Led Zeppelin.
Discography
2005 - Shostakovich: Symphonies 4-9 "The War Symphonies", Marinsky Theatre Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4, Vienna Philharmonic
2003 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7
Rachmoninov: Piano Concerto No.2, Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini, Kirov Orchestra
2002 - Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
2001 - Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring/Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy, Kirov Orchestra
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade/Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia/Balakirev: Islamey, Kirov Orchestra
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Kirov Orchestra
Prokofiev: Love for Three Oranges
1998 - Stravinsky: The Firebird/Scriabin: Prometheus, Kirov Orchestra
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Complete Ballet, Kirov Orchestra
1996 - Tchaikovsky: Iolantha, Kirov Orchestra
1995 - Borodin: Prince Igor, Kirov Orchestra
1991 - Borodin: Symphonies 1 and 2, Rotterdam Philharmonic
