Demanding greatness

Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 was dark and turbulent, conveying tragedy.

More than a century later, at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, Valery Gergiev gave it life.

The world-renowned Russian conductor led the Mariinsky Orchestra in a performance Wednesday night that took the audience back to the summer of 1902 in Worthersee, an alpine lake in southern Austria, and to the small cottage where Mahler composed his symphony.

“Today was different from what I did here before, this symphony sounded very powerful and special,” Gergiev said in a post-concert interview.

Gergiev, 56, is artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, an annual international festival that consists of classical ballet, opera and music events. He is also artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.

A few days before the concert, which was part of the Elizabeth & Henry Segerstrom Select Series, the Segerstroms held a private screening of the documentary “You Cannot Start Without Me” at the concert hall. The documentary highlights Gergiev’s demanding life as a conductor who performs at venues around the globe almost daily.

“He built an unbelievable, incredible instrument — the Mariinsky Orchestra,” said a passionate Alexey Steele. A painter and Soviet art expert who founded the Classical Underground chamber music series, Steele attended Wednesday’s concert.

Could Orange County see a Mariinsky festival?

“There’s a dream of a Mariinsky festival here at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and we enjoy the discussion of that dream,” said Henry Segerstrom, managing partner of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, whose family owns South Coast Plaza and who donated the land on which the Orange County Performing Arts Center was built.

That dream might be coming true next fall, as a Mariinsky festival in Orange County is in the works, said Doug Sheldon, Gergiev’s manager and vice chairman of the White Nights Foundation of America, an organization that formed in 1999 to support the Mariinsky Theatre’s work and strengthen U.S.-Russian relations through the arts.

The festival will come in time for a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Elizabeth Segerstrom said.

Gergiev is known for his attention to details, for sharing with audiences his passion for music through his powerful performances. He is also credited for preserving and advancing the contribution of Russian classical music to the world. And Gergiev understands the power music has on politics.

“You don’t need an interpreter to listen to music,” he said. “Russian music will sound very good to people here and American music will sound very good to Russians. It’s a way to build bridges and politicians can learn a lot from great musicians.”