Flute Festival of Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg, Russia

Ekaterina Kornishina | March 2017



    This past December Denis Lupachev, principal flutist of the Mariinsky Orchestra, arranged the first flute festival in Russia. Titled Flute Virtuosos, the event featured flutists from the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra including Denis Lupachev, Nikolai Mokhov, Maria Fedotova, Sofia Wieland, Tatjana Khvatova, Alexander Ozeritskiy and others. The guest artist was Denis Bouriakov, principal flutist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who gave several masterclasses and performed at the gala concert of the festival with his wife Erin Bouriakov.

    The opening concert was held in the Sergei Prokofiev Hall and featured the J.S. Bach Six Sonatas for Flute and the Partita in A Minor. There were two concerts on the second day of the festival. The first included works by Bach, Mozart, Liadov, Schocker, and Pozin which was performed by the newly-created flute orchestra while the second showcased the four Mozart flute quartets. On the third day of the festival Denis Bouriakov taught a masterclass and the Moscow Flute Center exhibited flutes. The evening concert was dedicated to past composers and flutists of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra including Zusman, Kohler, and Tsybina. The fourth day featured a masterclass taught by Bouriakov and ended with a concert of piccolo music. The festival concluded with a grand concert in the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre which was broadcast live and could be seen worldwide. Featured performers were Sofia Wieland, Maria Fedotova, Tatiana Khvatova, Denis Lupachev, Nikolai Mokhov, Sophia Cyprus (harp), Denis Bouriakov and Erin Bouriakov with the Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre. The concert included works by Vivaldi, Koehler, C.P.E. Bach, Mozart and Sibelius. With the success of the festival, the organizers hope to do it again.