(Phoebe Taplin’s article appeared in Russia Beyond the Headlines, 8/6.)

World-famous Edinburgh Festival – and its dramatic and literary offshoots – hosts Russian-flavored events, from stand-up comedy to fantasy and fairy tales.

Valery Gergiev. Source: Vladimir Astapkovich / TASS

Director and conductor, Valery Gergiev is the festival’s honorary president. This year he will conclude the orchestral program by conducting Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, played by the London Symphony Orchestra, whose principal conductor Gergiev has been for eight years.

Books, music and vodka

Another Russian conductor, Vasily Petrenko, leads the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra’s rendition of Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, described as “intense, achingly melodic and hugely emotional”. Young soprano Valentina Naforniţa will also perform“intense” Russian vocal works by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. Vodka distiller Russian Standard is sponsoring a program of concerts in Hub Sessions at the main festival.

– http://rbth.com/arts/2015/08/06/russian_highlights_of_edinburghs_festival_season_48305.html)

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