In co-operation with the Friends of the Organ of Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Alexander Kniazev, the renowned Russian cellist and organist, turned to the Cathedral organ for an hour to render a dazzling performance of the Middelschulte transcriptions for organ of Johann Sebastian Bach’s seminal Goldberg Variations.

The Festival venue then re-located to the Church of St. Bernadette for an Opera Gala evening with the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Fayçal Karoui. Stars of the opera world, tenor Aquiles Machado (Venezuela), mezzo-soprano Géraldine Chauvet (France) and soprano Lianna Haroutounian (Armenia) delivered some of the most passionate and dramatic arias from Bizet, Massenet, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi and other composers.

Victor Alexandrov, the AVC Charity Foundation music reviewer