Cecilia Bartoli takes a ship to join Valery Gergiev in St Petersburg

ByGramilano 21 March 201221 March 2012 Reading Time: 2 minutes

Yesterday, before Cecilia Bartoli‘s highly anticipated concert at the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall in St Peterburg tomorrow evening, she gave a press conference alongside Valery Gergiev who will conduct the programme of Mozart and Rossini arias.

Bartoli’s famed avoidance of flying (air-conditioning bad for the voice and jet-lag bad for the body) surprised many:

Well, I’ve just arrived — and in a very peculiar way because I decided to take a ship. And I wanted to see the sea with all the ice… This is something for a Roman. I mean, we never have snow in Rome (well, last winter yes — for the first time in fifty years probably). And then, to come here: the ship crossing and cutting the ice. You know, this is a strong feeling. This is something very, very special.”

The voyage from Lübeck in Germany to St Petersburg took about three days.

Gergiev expressed hope of future collaborations with Bartoli, suggesting the the “Russian” operas of the 18th Century might be an obvious choice. These operas were composed by Italian composers such as Sarti, Cimarosa and Paisiello for a Russian audience.

Gramilano

Graham Spicer, aka 'Gramilano', is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.