Somehow, I had anticipated a morose firebrand; misled by the designer stubble and a permanent look of tiredness. The inner steel is present, no doubt about that, but he doesn't strike attitudes, is a good listener, and clearly engages with his artists.
I've followed Gergiev's career with interest. He is a fascinating conductor to watch - I've never played in an orchestra, but I feel sure I would be able to follow his 'beat'. He communicates to them so well and some of the best concerts I've been to have been with Gergiev on the podium; the Sleeping Beauty performance was part of a series celebrating Diaghilev, with two concerts with the Kirov and two with the Philharmonia. Utterly spellbinding, especially a
Firebird/Scheherazade pairing in which I've never heard the Phil play so brilliantly. His impact on the Kirov/Mariinsky has been enormous and he has raised their profile in the West which has, in turn, no doubt benefited them financially. Not everything he does comes off - can it ever with any artist? - the Kirov's second residency at Covent Garden (following a superb season where I got to see
Mazeppa,
War and Peace and some ballet) was pretty disastrous as the Opera attempted a Verdi-fest which was under-rehearsed, badly produced, with uneven casts. The main ammunition hurled at Gergiev is usually that he does too much - he's like a human whirlwind, flitting from one continent to the next on a manic schedule. How he does it, I don't know, but I suspect he'll need to slow down at some point. It'll be interesting to see how his leadership of the LSO progresses. Credit to him for doing a Mahler cycle, a composer he's not got any sort of track record in, but I'm pleased to see some Rachmaninov and Prokofiev on the menu for next season.*
I though the film was well done and gave a good sense of the sheer range of his activities, both on the podium and in the 'backroom', securing funding, driving new initiatives, such as the new concert hall and the Moscow Easter Festival. I was at the Barbican concert when the
Rite of Spring was performed and it was quite something. I do feel that his concerts are, generally, more successful than a lot of his recordings, which can come across as 'over-rehearsed' if that's possible. My favourite CD of his was a live recording of Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony - extraordinary passion and emotion.
Sleeping Beauty prom now playing here...
* I see that tickets go on sale on Tuesday to watch Gergiev in rehearsal with the LSO as they prepare Prokofiev's score to Romeo and Juliet. Only £4. Details
here.
