Throng

Sunday, 7 December 2008, 10:45PM - 11:45PM on ITV1

There is a feast for the eye and ear for this season’s final South Bank Show which has been given complete access to the Mariinsky Theatre, its artists and its archives, and full support to make a film to celebrate the 225th Anniversary of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. This is a unique insight into how the arts have flourished in Russia under so many different regimes and is a sumptuous visual history.

During 2008, the Mariinsky Theatre has paid tribute to a phenomenal roll call of artists who have made the biggest impact in Russian music and dance over the past two centuries and the South Bank Show was there to film it. Filmed extracts include: Queen Of Spades, Boris Godunov,The Firebird, Scheherezade and Swan Lake.

Tchaikovsky, Pavlova, Borodin, Balanchine, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Nureyev, Glinka, Barichnikov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov are just some of the names linked to the majestic Mariinsky.

Contributors include: artistic and general director, and conductor Maestro Valery Gergiev; Vladimir Putin; Placido Domingo - President, Friends Of The Mariinsky Theatre; Mikhail Piotrovsky -Director, The Hermitage; Rodion Shchedrin - Composer; Anna Netrebko – Soprano; Maya Plisetskaya - Russia's Prima Ballerina Assoluta; Altnay Asylmuratova - Director, The Vaganova Academy; Ulyana Lopatkina - Principal Dancer, The Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet; Yuri Temirkanov - Music Director, Kirov Opera & Ballet 1976-1988; Maxim Shostakovich - Conductor & Pianist; Dmitri Hvorostovsky –Baritone.

The South Bank Show looks at the rich history of the Mariinsky in the birth and growth of the Russian tradition in opera, music and ballet. The Mariinsky’s history is a microcosm of Russian history, where the arts and music have continued to be celebrated, nurtured and championed despite the massive political changes that have taken place in Russia over the past 200 years.

Backstage at the Mariinsky is a whole world of theatre and ballet with labyrinthine underground passages full of extraordinary props, scenery and costumes – a complete visual history into the Mariinsky. Miles of corridors link the rehearsal rooms which are in constant use day and night. The archive, which was moved and hidden during the siege of Leningrad, contains a wealth of unexploited film, stills and designs. This treasure trove of material is seen for the first time on The South Bank Show.