The Maya and Rodion tribute festival will conclude with a grand concert at the Bolshoi Theatre’s historic venue in Moscow on 16 December, Rodion Shchedrin’s birthday. As part of this special evening, the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre will play the Cheeky Chastushki one-act ballet, which will form the core of the concert’s second half. Rodion Shchedrin described his own score as ‘essentially a toccata’ — that is, an intricate piece with a rapid tempo and a clear rhythm, ideally suited to showcasing the technical prowess of a ballet troupe. Cheeky Chastushki, a production by choreographer Vyacheslav Samodurov, premièred exactly three years ago, and was created specifically as a birthday gift for the composer, who was turning 90 at the time. Since then, the ballet has captivated the public and won the Golden Soffit Award as St. Petersburg’s best ballet of the season.

The Moscow concert is to feature outstanding talents: principal dancers of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theatres, as well as opera soloists. The Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Valery Gergiev.