Mariinsky Orchestra

Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra return to Cadogan Hall with two programmes celebrating the music of Rimsky-Korsakov and his most famous pupil Stravinsky.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s suite from The Tale of Tsar Saltan is best known for its orchestral showpiece Flight of the Bumblebee, and the suite from The Golden Cockerel is no less colourful and virtuosic.

Both programmes finish with major works linked to the Mariinsky, Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Stravinsky’s dazzling ballet score The Firebird, commissioned by Diaghilev, shot him to instant fame. Rimsky-Korsakov’s glorious symphonic poem Scheherazade, based on Tales of the Arabian Nights, was itself turned into a well-loved ballet for Diaghilev.