The classic Mariinsky (Kirov) production of the greatest of all ballets. Filmed in the imperial splendor of the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg. Starring Ulyana Lopatkina, Danila Korsuntsev and the breathtaking Mariinsky corps de ballet. Conducted by the great Russian maestro Valery Gergiev.

Nutcracker ballet, conducted by Victor Fedotov and featuring the Kirov Ballet and Orchestra. Stars Larissa Lezhnina, Victor Baranov and Piotr Russanov.

Ballet in 3 acts loosely based on the poem The Corsair by Lord Byron

It is a story in which the young heroine, dying from a broken heart, mysteriously hears the call of ghosts tempting her to join their round dance, and having become one of them she saves the lover who betrayed her.

A truly remarkable New Year’s Eve in St Petersburg’s fabled Mariinsky Theatre, with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky (ex-Kirov) Ballet. It was at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg that the ballet The Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1890, with a score by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa. This New Year’s Eve programme revolves around Act III, in which Princess Aurora is brought out of her long sleep by the prince of her dreams and marries him. In addition, prima ballerina Uliana Lopatkina dances Camille Saint-Saëns’ famous Dying Swan, first performed by Anna Pavlova. In conclusion the soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre’s Young Singers’ Academy perform the finale of Rossini’s Journey to Rheims in a joyous celebration of the coming of the New Year.