Set against the backdrop of the magical White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Sacred Stage features the best in Russian symphonic music, ballet and opera at Russia’s premier theater—the Mariinsky, also known as the Kirov. Sacred Stage explores what the theater has meant to Russian and Soviet culture and how it has somehow maintained its artistic excellence through war, revolution and the collapse of Communism.. It also looks at the life and work of Maestro Valery Gergiev, artistic and theater director at the Mariinsky, and captures the excitement of his world—a world populated with artists, socialites, financiers, politicians and celebrities.

Narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Richard Thomas, Sacred Stage is illustrated with stunning performances from the opera and ballet, as well as candid interviews with luminaries, scholars and performers.

Featuring: VALERY GERGIEV, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor; YEVGENY NIKITIN, Opera Singer; YULIA MAKHALINA, Ballet Dancer; GEORGE TSYPIN, Opera Set Designer; ELIZABETH KENDALL, Dance Critic and Scholar; and PLÁCIDO DOMINGO

"Splendid! A beautiful, succinct documentary."- Los Angeles Times