Photo credit: Mariinsky Theater Press Service
Leading Russian performers, well-heeled and young, participated in the Verbier Festival, which took place for 17 days in the village of Verbier, located in the Swiss Alps. For the second year, the artistic director of the festival is the head of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev, who conducted a large orchestra assembled from young performers from around the world at the opening ceremony, the Russkiy Ochevidets newspaper reports.
Verbier is not considered the most popular place in Switzerland among Russian tourists, but at the time of the music festival Russian speech is heard everywhere. Russians and Russian-speaking fans of classical music come to Verbier to listen to their music idols, and those, in turn, come with their families.
According to the artistic director of Verbier Festival Martin Engstroem, who founded the festival 26 years ago, from the first years of its holding there were many Russian musicians in the program. This year's festival was attended by world-famous Russian pianists Denis Matsuev and Evgeny Kisin, violinist Vadim Repin, singer Ekaterina Gubanova and many others. Concerts with Russian celebrities gathered full halls with a capacity of 1800 spectators.
In addition to concerts, a series of educational events and internships were held in the framework of the festival, in which young Russian musicians took part. In particular, among the four young conductors selected from 120 candidates from all over the world, two Russians got an internship in Switzerland.
Russkiy Mir
