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Gergiev’s Mariinsky to play Shostakovich’s Symphony No 7 in Munich

The symphony will be played by the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra that left for Germany on Saturday

ST PETERSBURG, May 5 (Itar-Tass) — Russian maestro Valery Gergiev will conduct Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad” in Munich on the eve of Victory Day on May 9.

In the wake of World War II the Russian great composer dedicated this symphony to unprecedented courage of Leningrad residents who defended their city from Nazis.

The symphony will be played by the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra that left for Germany on Saturday.

On the eve musicians played Symphony No. 7 in their native city.

On May 6 listeners from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region will be able to join the audience at the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra through direct broadcasting of the performance by 100TV.

This will be one of Valery Gergiev’s performances of Shostakovich’s symphonies for this season.

The Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra will play in turn all 15 symphonies written by Shostakovich.

This tour of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra also includes Symphony No. 6 and Symphony No. 10.

Gergiev will give the final performance of Shostakovich’s symphony cycle with Germany’s orchestra in July.

“The project of such scale became possible thanks to our joint efforts,” the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra’s executive director Paul Mueller said.

Munich for Valery Gergiev who marked his 59th birthday on May 2 is a special destination on his tour map. There he conducted the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra during one of his first foreign concerts in the beginning of his career.

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