Plot Summary

A truly remarkable New Year’s Eve in St Petersburg’s fabled Mariinsky Theatre, with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky (ex-Kirov) Ballet. It was at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg that the ballet The Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890, with a score by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa. This New Year’s Eve programme revolves around Act III, in which Princess Aurora is brought out of her long sleep by the prince of her dreams and marries him. In addition, prima ballerina Uliana Lopatkina dances Camille Saint-Saëns’ famous Dying Swan, first performed by Anna Pavlova. In conclusion the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre’s Young Singers’ Academy perform the finale of Rossini’s Journey to Rheims in a joyous celebration of the coming of the New Year.