Lesson_9

Biography of a conductor:

Valery Gergiev

Since he burst onto the international scene just a few years ago, Valery Gergiev has become one of the most sought after conductors in the world. He is currently the Director of the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, home to the Kirov Opera and Ballet. Under his leadership, the Kirov Opera has become recognized as one of the great opera companies of the present day. He is also Principal Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera.

Born in Moscow in 1953, Valery Gergiev grew up in the Caucasus, the mountainous area at the Southern end of Russia, stretching from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. He began his musical studies in Ordzhonikidze, the Caucasian capital of Ossetia , and showed early prodigious talent as a pianist before taking up conducting in his teens. He was accepted into the conducting class of Ilya Musin at the Leningrad (now St Petersburg) Conservatory, and whilst still a student won the All Union Conductors Competition in Moscow and the Herbert von Karajan Conductors Competition in Berlin at the age of 23.  He made his Kirov Opera debut in 1978 with War and Peace and later became assistant conductor to Yuri Temirkanov. In 1988 Gergiev was designated artistic director and principal conductor. In 1996, the Russian government appointed him director of the Mariinsky Theatre. He has appeared with all the leading orchestras of the former Soviet Union and for four years was chief conductor of the Armenian State Orchestra.

Gergiev has guest conducted most of the world's major orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw, London's Royal Philharmonic, Rome's Santa Cecilia, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Tokyo's NHK Symphony, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Now, as one of music’s busiest and most sought-after conductors, he is regularly applauded at the podiums of the major opera houses and orchestras of the world. Maestro Gergiev is the organizer of St. Petersburg ’s annual "White Nights Festival," the "Rotterdam Philharmonic/Gergiev Festival," and is director and founder of the Mikkeli International Festival in Finland , the Peace to the Caucasus Festival, and the Red Sea International Music Festival in Eilat , Israel . 


Bruce Duffie interviewed Gergiev in 1992  in Chigago where the conductor  lead the Chicago Symphony  . . .


Musical terms - match the symbos to the notes



Vocabulary bank pp 4-6

Grammar Revision pp 22-28