Valery Gergiev: conducted 18 concerts in 8 days

Valery Gergiev during the last eight days has conducted eighteen concerts (sic!) in twelve cities as part of the 12th Moscow Easter Festival that he founded in 2002. Festival events take place not only in Moscow but in many Russian regions. The Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra is a regular participant of the Festival. Travelling on board a special chartered train, Maestro Gergiev conducted concerts in Moscow (May 5, afternoon and evening), Smolensk (May 6, morning and afternoon), Bryansk (May 6, evening), Belgorod (May 7, morning), Kursk (May 7, afternoon), Oryol (May 7, evening), Tula (May 8, morning), Kaluga (May 8, evening), Moscow (May 9, afternoon and evening), Nizhny Novgorod (May 10, afternoon and evening), Kostroma (May 11, morning), Yaroslavl (May 11, evening), Vologda (May 12, afternoon) and Cherepovets (May 12, evening). Concerts from May 5 to 9 featured pianist Denis Matsuev, while the Mariinsky Opera Soloists and the Mariinsky Chorus joined the orchestra for a set of concerts from May 10 to 12 to perform oratorial works and operas. For the next couple nights Valery Gergiev conducts a double bill at the new Mariinsky Theatre (Mariinsky II) — Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du printemps (world premiere choreographed by Sasha Waltz) and Sergei Prokofiev’s The Prodigal Son (choreographed by George Balanchine, 1929).

I’m not sure what kind of e ndurance record has been broken here, but I’m not sure it’s something to be proud of. Unless he’s out to prove that he really deserves the Hero of Labour Prize. In olden times, he would have been called a Stakhanovite.