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 [log in to unmask]