Into the vacuum left by the San Francisco Opera spring presentations
comes now Michael Tilson Thomas, perhaps the country's most voice-oriented
conductor from outside opera circles, and Big Russian Festival, strong as
bull, da!

The festival will run in Davies Hall, June 13-30, featuring "semi-staged"
perforances of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Mlada," with a fine cast, and Evelyn
Cisneros, former San Francisco Ballet prima ballerina assoluta, in the
non-singing title role.

The grandson of Boris Tomashevsky is preparing a notalgic journey into
the world of works of Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Peter Ilyich
Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Tcherepnin, Mily Balakirev, Anatoli
Laidov, and Alexander Glazunov.  (So what's wrong with Soviet era and
contemporary composers? Maybe next year.)

MTT regards "Mlada" as the "prototype" for "The Firebird," "The Love
for Three Oranges, and "Daphnis et Chloe" as well as (this is a quote)
"Rimsky's answer to Wagner's `Ring'." The festival follows MTT's
Russian-music celebration in 1993, while director-designate of the SFS,
and the 1999 Stravinsky Festival.

The schedule:

June 14-15
Violinist TBA

Mily Balakirev / Russia (SFS Premiere)
Alexander Glazunov / Violin Concerto in A minor, Opus 82
Nikolai Tcherepnin / Le Royaume enchante (SFS Premiere)
Igor Stravinsky / The Firebird (Suite)

June 19-20
Vladimir Feltsman, piano

Anatoli Liadov / Eight Russian Folk Songs, Opus 58
Sergei Prokofiev / Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Opus 16
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky / Suite No. 3 in G Major, Opus 55

June 21-22
Ljuba Kazarnovskaya, soprano
Nathalie Stutzmann, contralto
Vsevolod Grivnov, tenor

Dmitri Shostakovich / Two Pieces, Opus 11 (SFS Premiere) (Alexander
Barantschik, leader)
Dmitri Shostakovich / From Jewish Folk Poetry
Dmitri Shostakovich / Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Opus 47

June 27-30
Princess Mlada: Evelyn Cisneros, dancer
Princess Voislava: Ljuba Kazarnovskaya, soprano
Prince Yaromir: Gegam Grigorian, tenor
Prince Mstivoy: Tigran Martirossian, bass
Morena: mezzo-soprano TBA
Lumir: Brian Asawa, countertenor
Veglasnyl: Vladimir Glushchak, baritone
Susan Narucki, soprano
San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony Chorus / Vance George, director

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov / Mlada (SFS Premiere)

Janos Gereben/SF
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