Sign in

Password Assistance Sign up


Neil Shicoff and the Mikhailovsky Theatre Offer their Congratulations to the St. Petersburg Philharmonic
The St. Petersburg Philharmonic celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. As a special birthday treat, soloists and musicians from the Mikhailovsky Theatre will play — for one night only — not on their own stage, but on the stage of the Grand Hall of the Philharmonic.


On June 23, a unique Gala Concert will take place, featuring world renowned tenor Neil Shicoff, and the orchestra, choir, and soloists of the Mikhailovsky Theatre.

Thanks to his brilliant acting and original and convincing character interpretation, the legendary singer has been called the “the Al Pacino of opera”. His stage presence and ability to shape and hold the audience’s attention are his key talents, along with his incredible vocal gifts, which have won him numerous honours. He has performed solos on the most renowned opera stages in the world — the Metropolitan, La Scala, Covent Garden and many others.

At the recent Golden Mask theatre festival, Neil Shicoff was awarded Best Male Role for his performance as Eléazar in La Juive. Music critics consider the American tenor’s mastery of this role to be unequalled in the world.

“The main trump card [in La Juive] was the in-house performer of the complex role of Eléazar, at once an earnest and humane character, played by renowned American tenor Neil Shicoff. His voice is by no means young, but the final death scene guaranteed the opera’s end to rapturous applause from the Hall.” (Expert, 28/03/2011)

On 23 June Neil Shicoff will perform the well-known and well-loved Cavaradossi’s aria from Tosca, Lensky’s aria “Where, where have you gone?”, extracts from Don Carlos and The Tales of Hoffman, and the famous aria from Eléazar in La Juive.
To conclude the concert, Neil Shicoff and Larisa Kostyuk will perform part of Carmen — a future Mikhailovsky Theatre premiere, which will appear in the 2012 season.

Other highlights of the Gala Concert will include performances from the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s finest soloists — Natalia Mironova, Tatiana Ryaguzova, Dmitry Darov and others. Both Russian and Italian composers will feature in the evening’s programme.

The theatre’s Musical Director and Chief Conductor Peter Feranec will be conducting from the stand.