Gergiev called the return of Prokofiev's "Cinderella" to the Bolshoi Theater important.

The details of the new stage version of composer Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella, directed by Vyacheslav Lopatin, are a matter of perception, and it is much more important that the play returns to the stage. Valery Gergiev, Director General of the Bolshoi Theatre and conductor, shared this belief with Izvestia on June 4 on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026).

"The rest is a matter of discussion, sympathy, perception one way or another. Above all, there is the figure of Prokofiev, the greatest musician, the Russian musician who addressed this eternal story," he explained.

Gergiev noted that Italian composers, such as Gioacchino Rossini, had reproduced the Cinderella story before him. In turn, Prokofiev "felt, saw and heard" this story on the stages of the great Russian theaters.

"Both the Mariinsky and the Bolshoi Theaters will preserve this heritage as shrines — that's what's important. And those who saw the purse in the hands of the stepmother, who saw the black glasses, which, perhaps, were not worn 300-400 years ago — these are small things," Gergiev concluded.

Velik and Gatsby: "Cinderella" returned to the Bolshoi Theater in a modern outfit

Pool party, dancing with a broom and a yellow bike

On the eve of its 250th anniversary, on March 28, the Bolshoi Theater presented Giuseppe Verdi's opera Othello to the audience. The Izvestia correspondent, covering the premiere, noted that the building of the main Moscow theater remembers not only the grand dukes and emperors, but also the composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninov, as well as such artists as Fyodor Chaliapin and Maya Plisetskaya.