The conductor that oversaw Sir Georg Solti's centennial at Carnegie Hall earlier this year, Valery Gergiev, will take the helm of one of Europe's elite ensembles, the London Symphony Orchestra, in a night of Brahms and Szymanwoski on Tuesday at Barbican Hall in London.
The Russian conductor, will along with the LSO, be joined by tenor Toby Spence. The group will play Johannes Brahms "Symphony No. 3," followed by his "Variations on a theme by Hadyn." The final piece on the night belongs to Karol Szymanowski and his "Symphony No. 3 (Song of the Night)."
Gergiev is the general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.
The conductor is linked with various acts in Europe and in his early career he found himself in key roles at the Kirov Opera, Mariinsky Opera and Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra.
In the 90s he landed roles with Bavarian State Opera as well as the San Francisco Opera. One of his biggest achievements is when he was named principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic a post he held from 1995 to 2008.
Known for his opera style performances, the man from Russia took on a role at one of the world's finest opera arenas, the Metropolitan Opera House in 1997 when he joined the New York City venue as a principal guest conductor.
Outside of his musical career, Gergiev is also an advocate for politics. Born in North Ossetia, Gergiev has been a strong supporter of the region and calls for peace. Gergiev played peacemaker in the conflict between the Georgian central government and South Ossetia . After the 2004 Beslan school massacre, Gergiev appealed on television for calm and against revenge. He conducted concerts to commemorate the victims of the massacre.
Valery Gergiez on Szymanowski
