From the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, December 2012 Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre Valery Gergiev - musical director and conductor Sergei Aleksashkin - a Retired General in civilian clothes Tatiana Pavlovskaya - Pauline, the General’s step-daughter Vladimir Galuzin - Alexei, tutor of the General’s children Larisa Dyadkova - Babulenka Nikolai Gassiev - Marquis Alexander Gergalov - Mr Astley, a rich Englishman Nadezhda Serdyuk - Mlle Blanche, a demi-mondain Andrei Popov - Prince Nilsky Oleg Sychev - Baron Wurmerhelm Andrei Spekhov - Potapych Sergei Prokofiev: The Gambler - Opera in four acts and six scenes Libretto by the composer after the novella of the same name by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Prokofiev flows in the veins of the Mariinsky Theatre’s musicians, and has moreover done so for a long time; and the fact that, under Gergiev’s baton, the orchestra and the opera company performed all of Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonies, all of his concerti and all of his operas more than once is here of fundamental significance. All the senses and all the emotions are presented here by the orchestra in full on an immense yet refined palette of sounds, with a full understanding of both the text and subtext of the events, in the lively action and with Gergiev’s inherent magic.

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