ValeryGergiev
Stockholm, May 2006
The 15th Polar Music Prize Ceremony was held at Konserthuset Stockholm on 22 May 2006.
HM King Carl XVI Gustaf presented the Prize to the two Laureates Valery Gergiev and British legendary rock group Led Zeppelin.
To honour the Laureates, music was performed by the The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and a stellar line up of artist such as o mera singer Ekaterina Semenchuk, Maja Ivarsson (The Sounds), Ebbot Lundberg (The Soundtracks of our Lives) and Nina Persson (The Cardigans) among others.
Opera singer Ekaterina Semenchuk (Source: © Polar Music Prize)
Ekaterina Semenchuk sings "Adieu, forêts" from Peter Tchaikovskys "The Maid from Orléans", with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Agrest.
The citation for Valery Gergiev was read by fellow Laureate Sofia Gubaidulina, who received the Polar Music Prize in 2002.
The evening continued with a banquet in Vinterträdgården at Stockholm’s Grand Hôtel.
HM King Carl XVI Gustaf, Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin and Valery Gergiev at the banquet.
Passion for music
Valery Gergiev is one of the busiest and most sought after conductors in the world – applauded at the podiums of major opera houses and concert halls. He emerged in the 1980’s as one of the most exciting new conductors, particularly of opera and ballet. He is the artistic and general director of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg since 1996. At the same time he works as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He was the principal guest conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York 1997-2008, at the same time as he was principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. A busy man – a champion of culture and an activist for peace. Valery Gergiev covers most of the classical repertoire, but closest to his heart are the great Russian composers – Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky etc.
Trailer for the film "You Cannot Start Without Me: Valery Gergiev – Maestro" by Alan Miller (2009)
Moscow – Vladikavkaz – St. Petersburg
Valery Gergiev was born on May 2nd, 1953 into the family of an officer and brigade major, Abisal Gergiev, and his wife Tamara, who was an instrumentation engineer. When he was six, the family moved to his parents’ native Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia in the Caucasus. He had his first piano lessons in secondary school. As a little boy, Valery wasn’t noted for any outstanding ability in music; he was an ordinary boy who loved climbing trees and playing football. But when he and his sister Larisa started at the well known musical school #5, the music conquered his heart, and in his teens he decided that he wanted to be a conductor.
At 19 he moved to Leningrad, as St. Petersburg was named during the Soviet era, to study at the Leningrad State Conservatory.
View of St. Petersburg with St. Peter & Paul and St. Isaac Cathedrals (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
From Prokofiev's "War and Peace" at the Kirov Opera 1993, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Studies & debutes
Valery Gergiev entered the conducting class of Ilya Musin, legendary teacher and conducting theorist at St. Petersburg Conservatory, in 1972. In 1975 and still a student, he won the All-Soviet Union conductor contest in Moscow.
The following year he won the Herbert von Karajan Conductors’ Competition in Berlin. When he graduated in 1977 he was asked to join the Kirov Opera (now the Mariinsky Opera), where he started as assistant to the chief conductor. But already by 1978 he had independently directed his first opera, War and Peace by Sergei Prokofiev.
Ilya Musin, Russian conductor, prominent teacher and theorist of conducting at St. Petersburg Conservatory, from the 1930's into modern times.
The Mariinsky theatre: a new home
As assistant conductor under Yuri Temirkanov, Valery Gergiev made more exciting opera performances at the Kirov through the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, marking the arrival of an extraordinary conductor. From 1981 to 1985 he was director of The Armenian State Orchestra, conducting widely throughout the Soviet Union. In 1988 he was appointed chief conductor and artistic director at the Kirov, which changed its name back to the historic name Mariinsky in 1992.
Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Orchestra. In 1996 Gergiev was appointed general director by the Russian government.
Inside the Mariinsky Theatre (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Gergiev and the Mariinsky, Russian repertoire - from records released 1991-94.
Mariinsky Theatre
Valery Gergiev started his tenure at the Kirov with immense energy and enthusiasm and developed the company’s orchestra to the point that it rivaled the famed Leningrad Philharmonic. Soon he began to establish an international profile for the opera and ballet companies, which reverted to the original name Mariinsky in 1992 following the growth of "perestroika" and the decline of the Soviet state.
He led the company on its first big tour to the west in 1989, and has since taken the Mariinsky companies on tours across the world. At the same time he established himself internationally, highly demanded by the world’s leading orchestras. 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 work. Curiously, he often conducts using a toothpick for a baton.
Early recording with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Borodin Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, 1990 (Source: Philips/Universal)
Conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra: "Pictures at an Exhibition", Part 1, "Promenade" by Modest Mussorgsky.
Berlin, Montreal, Dallas, Stockholm...
Valery Gergiev works with renowned ensembles like the Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), L’Orchestre National de France, Swedish Radio Orchestra and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, Minnesota, Montreal and Birmingham.
Rotterdam Philharmonic's home stage, De Doelen (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
For the Mariinsky Theatre he was the first to establish artistic co-operation with the world’s leading opera houses. Also, several international music festivals has been established by Gergiev, the most well-known being the Stars of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.
A summary of the 25th edition of The Stars of the White Nights festival, 2017.
An international career
In 1988, Valery Gergiev guest-conducted the London Symphony Orchestra for the first time. In his following appearance with the LSO in 2004, he conducted all seven symphonies by Sergei Prokofiev. The engagement led to his appointment in 2005 as the Orchestra’s fifteenth principal conductor, succeeding Sir Colin Davis from January 2007.
At the same time he continues his responsibilities as general director at the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg, and guest-conducting on stages and with orchestras around the world.
Prokofiev's complete symphonies with Gergiev & the London Symphony Orchestra, 2006. (Source: Philips/Universal Music)
Among Valery Gergiev's achievements, besides artistic and musical such as the return of Wagner operas to the St. Petersburg stage, he managed to get support for a brand new Concert Hall as part of the Mariinsky Theater. The new building opened in November 2006 and has broadened the repertoire possibilities.
The new Concert Hall is where the recordings are produced for the new Mariinsky record label that was founded in 2009. On the international scene, Gergiev has continued as principal conductor for the London Symphony Orchestra. In January 2013 it became official that Valery Gergiev will succeed Lorin Maazel as principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic from January 2015.
"Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer", released 2010 on the Mariinsky label. Conductor: Valery Gergiev – Orchestra: Orchestra and Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre.
Valery Gergiev at a press conference for the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, Sweden, 2012. (Source: Photo by Johan Ljungström/Sveriges Radio.)
Content of biography is presented here as it was published in 2012.
All pictures from the ceremony and banquet Patrik Österberg / © Polar Music Prize.
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Marie Ledin
Managing Director
marie.ledin@polarmusicprize.org
Alfons Karabuda
Chairman of the Polar Music
Prize Award Committee
alfons@polarmusicprize.org
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