ROTTERDAM, September 11 (RIA Novosti's Andrei Poskakukhin) - The internationally acclaimed Russian musician Valery Gergiev has been knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in recognition of the international significance and scope of his musical activities.
The Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater (also known in the West as the Kirov) received the title of the Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion at a special ceremony in Rotterdam's De Doelen concert hall Saturday, after the 10th Gergiev Festival's opening gala. The city's mayor, Ivo Opstelten, presented the award to Gergiev on Queen Beatrix' behalf.
Opstelten also offered him the first copy of a newly released four-CD set featuring highlights of the previous nine Gergiev festivals.
This year's festival opened with the prologue to Richard Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, performed by the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Gergiev's baton.
