One of the most sought-after Russian baritones in the world, Sergei Leiferkus celebrated 40 years in the business in 2010. He has spent almost his entire career within the orbit of the legendary Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, earning the nickname “Iron Leiferkus” from colleagues for his dedication and working capacity. Even today this world-renowned artist tirelessly devours new roles, despite his wife’s playful threat of divorce if he does not give up his passion. He has sung practically all the major baritone roles in the operatic repertoire, performing from the 1980s onwards in the world’s most prestigious opera houses alongside the biggest names in opera – not only Russian works, and not only in operas, but in evenings of arias and oratorios alike. He recalls one of the memorable roles of his rich career tonight, sandwiched between two interesting orchestral works. Mussorgsky‘s hair-raising music evoking the Witches’ Sabbath will be performed in its rarely heard original form, while the second half presents an unjustly neglected symphony by Tchaikovsky.
The orchestra for the evening is no ordinary model either. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was formed with the goal of performing music primarily from the second half of the 18th century on period instruments. Almost 30 years have passed since the orchestra’s formation, however, and it has long since played its way through all works from this period, so now it draws from a broader repertoire. The ensemble has an unusual organizational structure, being governed by the musicians themselves, with no principal conductor. It works instead with selected “principal artists” such as Simon Rattle, Iván Fischer and Mark Elder, as well as Russia’s Vladimir Jurowski, who has garnered considerable acclaim as music director of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Presented by: Palace of Arts