In 2023 the Diaghilev Festival under the artistic direction of Teodor Currentzis will open on June 22 and last for 11 days. The programme features symphonic and chamber concerts, opera productions, experimental performative projects, classical and alternative music. Throughout the event the Festival Club will be opening its doors to all residents of the city. An educational programme will be developed for arts students.
The Diaghilev Festival will begin on June 22 with an opening symphonic concert by the musicAeterna Orchestra conducted by Teodor Currentzis (12+). The concert encompasses three works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, related to Italy either musically or in terms of the plot: an orchestral fantasy based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", a symphonic fantasy "Francesca da Rimini" based on the tragic love story from Dante's "Divine Comedy", as well as the “Capriccio Italien” created in response to the impressions of Rome and the Roman carnival.
At the closing ceremony of the festival, a new production will be presented to the music of two masterpieces by Igor Stravinsky (18+): the well-known "Symphony of Psalms" and the rarely performed melodrama "Perséphone". The "Symphony of Psalms" is one of the most influential works of the 20th century and the most famous of Stravinsky's opuses on a religious theme. Stravinsky's work has little in common with classical symphonies of the 19th century — the neoclassical composer is looking for a new expressiveness in the genre, restrained and devoid of romantic sentiments. In "Perséphone", based on one of the Ancient Greek myths, Stravinsky again, as in "The Rite of Spring", recreates the spring ritual. He calls his composition a melodrama implying a special form of "reading to music", a common practice at the beginning of the 20th century. From a theatrical point of view, this is a composition of a mixed genre, which combines singing and recitation, an antique choir and lullabies, pantomime and statuesque mise en scene. The theatrical "rite", created at the beginning of the 20th century for Ida Rubinstein's dance troupe, will be performed by the musicAetern orchestra, choir, and dance troupe directed by Anna Guseva and Teodor Currentzis. The premiere performances will take place on July 1 and 2 at the House of Music at the Shpagin Plant.
In the course of 11 festival days the Festival Club will operate, where meet-the-artist events with festival participants, lectures, master classes, performances, broadcasts, and discussions of the events of the main programme will take place. The admission to the events of the festival club is free for all residents of the city. An educational programme will be developed for arts students.
The detailed programme of the Diaghilev Festival is to be announced in mid-March.
The organizer of the Diaghilev Festival — 2023 is the Diaghilev Foundation for Support of Cultural Initiatives. Diaghilev Festival 2023 is to be held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Perm Krai. In 2023, the Diaghilev Festival is held as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Perm city.
The Diaghilev Festival is one of the largest music forums in Russia. It takes place in Perm where Sergei Diaghilev, an outstanding impresario and promoter of Russian culture, spent his childhood. The festival strives to strengthen and develop Diaghilev's traditions and explores various forms of creative search, a new theatrical language, and modern trends in academic music. The Artistic Director of Diaghilev Festival is Teodor Currentzis. The festival takes place annually in summer. Since 2020, a three-day winter satellite event — "Diaghilev+" — has been held. This year it will be 20 years since the Diaghilev Festival foundation.
