On the 5th of October the music and theatre performance “Imperial Capitals: Vienna and St. Petersburg” organized by Gazprom and the Austrian OMV will take place in the Grand Hall of the D.D. Shostakovich St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia.

The performance will be held during the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum. The event is expected to be attended by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom, and Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board of OMV, as well as representatives of Russian and foreign companies that participate in the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum and the 'Russian Energy Week', representatives of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, Administration of St. Petersburg and others.

The project "Imperial Capitals: Vienna and St. Petersburg" is being held for the second time. This year, at the centre stage will be the work of Russian and Austrian poets. Their poetry takes on a new voice being combined with music. Works performed by famous Russian and Austrian musicians and performances by dramatic actors will be accompanied by visual and light effects against the backdrop of the custom made stage set. The organizers of the project are convinced that the synthesis of various art forms, fusion of timeless stories and modern ways of creative expression will allow the spectator to fully reveal the diversity of the unique cultural heritage of the two imperial capitals.

Yuri Bashmet, legendary violist, the People’s Artist of Russia, will welcome the audience from his conductor’s desk. Sergei Krylov, the world-class musician, will play the violin. The outstanding contemporary pianist Boris Berezovsky will give a delightful solo piano performance. The performance will also feature actors Ekaterina Shpitsa and Mikhail Trukhin, prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Ekaterina Kondaurova, leading soloists of the Mariinsky Theater and the Vienna Opera, the quartet of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and other musicians.

The programme will include works by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, verses by Pushkin, Akhmatova, Rilke and many other authors who have become the history of classical music and poetry of Russia and Austria.

The proceeds from the sale of tickets will be donated to charity.

The event tickets can be acquired on the site of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia:

http://www.philharmonia.spb.ru/afisha/181070/