White Nights, festival

Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Music Festivals
WHITE NIGHTS, A musical and theatrical festival succeeding the Leningrad Festival of Arts held from 1958 to 1963. The annual festival was conducted in Leningrad from 1964 to 1990, on 21-29 June. The festival was held by the Chief Administration of Culture of the Executive Committee of Lenigrad Soviet and Concert Union as a show of the best achievements of the USSR and foreign music, theatre, variety art and choreography. Among the participants of the White Nights were M.A. Esambaev, M.M. Plisetskaya, E.A. Mravinsky, M.L. Rostropovich, I.A. Braudo, V. Cliburn, E. Chakyrov, D. Kakhidze, musical bands and theatres from Leningrad and other cities (the Tovstonogov Academic Bolshoy Drama Theatre, Alexander Pushkin Theatre, the Comedy Theatre, the Miniature Theatre under the direction of A.I. Raykin, the Choreographic Miniatures under the direction of L.V. Yakobson, Leningrad Music-Hall, the Pesnyary band, the Theatre of Ballet, the Chamber Choir of Armenia, Orenburg State Russian Folk Choir, Vienna Ice Ballet Review etc.). Some of the festivals were dedicated to eminent cultural figures or memorable dates (for example, to S.S. Prokofiev in 1965, to M.I. Petipa in 1968, to the 50th jubilee of the USSR in 1972, to D.D. Shostakovich in 1976 etc.). Concerts and performances took place in the halls and on the boards of Leningrad and parks of Petrodvorets. The audience ran up to 200,000 people, whereas the number of foreign tourists who came to see the festival numbered up to 30,000. The following productions celebrated their premieres at The White Nights festivals: A.P. Petrov's ballet The Creation of the World (S.M. Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre), S.M. Slonimsky's opera Mary Stuart (Maly Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre), A.N. Kolker's musical The Death of Tarelkin (Tovstonogov Academic Bolshoy Drama Theatre), A.L. Rybnikov's rock-opera Junona and Avos (the Poyuschie Gitary band) etc. In addition to that, the scope of The White Nights festival involved performances of the winners of the Fourth International P.I. Tchaikovsky Contest (1970), the Second International Contest of Ballet Performers (1973), reviews of works of contemporary Leningrad composers (G.I. Banschikov, V.A. Uspensky, A.A. Kneifel et al.), concerts of contemporary foreign musical groups and performers, gala concerts of A. Khachaturian, T.N. Khrennikov, R.K. Schedrin et al. In 1977, Oktyabrsky Grand Concert Hall hosted a concert of foreign pop-stars. The year 1990 saw the twenty-seventh and final last White Nights festival. Banshchikov Gennady Ivanovich
Braudo Isaya Alexandrovich
Chakyrov Emil
Cliburn Harvey Lavan Van
Eifman Boris Yakovlevich
Esambaev Makhmud Alisultanovich
Kakhidze Dzhansug Ivanovich
Khachaturyan Aram Ilyich
Khrennikov Tikhon Nikolaevich
Kirov (real name Kostrikov) Sergey Mironovich
Kneifel Alexander Aronovich
Kolker Alexander Naumovich A3570
Mravinsky Evgeny Alexandrovich
Petipa Marius Ivanovich
Petrov Andrey Pavlovich
Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna
Prokofiev Sergey Sergeevich
Raykin Arkady Isaakovich
Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich
Rybnikov Alexey Lvovich
Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich
Shostakovich Dmitry Dmitrievich
Slonimsky Mikhail Leonidovich
Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich
Uspensky Vladislav Alexandrovich
Ustvolskaya Galina Ivanovna
Yakobson Leonid Veniaminovich
Tovstonogov Bolshoy Drama Theatre
Alexandrinsky Theatre
Akimov Comedy Theatre
Choreographic Miniatures, ballet theatre
Music Hall
Mariinsky Theatre
Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theatre
1964