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Maestro Gergiev gives charity concert for Japan’s quake victims

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gergiev played Maurice Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8

TOKYO, March 1 (Itar-Tass) — Russian conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater, maestro Valery Gergiev, performed a charity concert in Tokyo on Wednesday night to support Japanese people who suffered from the devastating quake and tsunami last year.

The Tokyo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gergiev at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo played Maurice Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8.

In his address to the audience Gergiev expressed admiration for courage of Japanese people who survived the disaster.

The concert’s programme was specially chosen to emphasize this very feeling, he said.

The concert gathered around 300 residents of regions most strongly affected by the quake and tsunami – Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate Prefectures.

“Almost one year passed from the tragedy and we managed to live on somehow,” a woman from Fukushima Prefecture said. “This beautiful music replenished our strength.”

All funds from the concert will be transferred to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

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