Furs, Putin and Music and Ballet, Too, at New Mariinsky Theater Gala

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia â€" At the gala concert on Thursday evening that formally opened Mariinsky II, the $700 million companion to the opulent 19th-century Mariinsky Theater here, the theme was the union of old and new. The point was to show off the technical capabilities of the limestone-and-glass house while assuring the well-heeled, well-furred audience, which included President Vladimir V. Putin, that the Mariinsky’s traditions would be upheld.

During the two-and-a-half-hour performance led by Valery Gergiev, the Mariinsky’s tireless artistic director, the present and future were arranged so they faced â€" and followed â€" the past. The virtuosic stage moved up, down, left and right, but the set was dominated by a replica of part of the old Mariinsky’s glamorous horseshoe auditorium. An enormous video screen offered a shifting display of lush backdrops from the theater’s glorious history.

There was a smooth passage from Millicent Hodson’s reconstruction of Nijinsky’s still-startling “Rite of Spring,” about to celebrate its centenary, to a coolly ferocious excerpt from “Sacre,” Sasha Waltz’s new take on the “Rite.” (Why were fresh and recent ballets represented, but not contemporary operas?) Both were danced beautifully by the Mariinsky’s storied ballet company, which may end up dominating the old theater while opera takes primary residence in the new, the same division that exists between the Paris Opera’s halls.

Time also traveled during the vocal performances in the cool, blond-wood theater, more than amply accented with Swarovski crystals. Plácido Domingo, who has lately ventured into the baritone repertory, returned (at 72) to one of his favorite tenor parts, Wagner’s Siegmund, singing the love ode “Winterstürme” with ardency and just a bit of strain.

Soon after, Anna Netrebko showed why she is the biggest of the stars Mr. Gergiev has nurtured at the Mariinsky, giving a thrilling preview of Verdi’s Lady Macbeth, which she will perform complete for the first time next year. She stalked her way through the snarling “Vieni, t’affretta” in a blazing, generous performance that bodes well for her gradual move into the great Verdi roles.

The violinist Leonidas Kavakos and the violist Yuri Bashmet each had honey-toned solos accompanying dance selections. Sections from ballets including Petipa’s “Bayadère” and Balanchine’s “Jewels” alternated with an array of opera arias, including the coronation scene, featuring the bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin, from Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov,” and a selection from Gounod’s “Faust,” with René Pape a gruffly powerful Méphistophélès.

Ekaterina Semenchuk’s lively rendition of the “Chanson Bohémienne” from “Carmen” was followed by the eminent ballerina Diana Vishneva’s sparkling performance of Alberto Alonso’s choreography for Carmen’s “Habanera.” (Ms. Vishneva will perform Béjart’s classic “Boléro” at a performance in her honor on Saturday.)

The intermission-less evening sometimes lagged. A group of the company’s young artists gave a meandering performance of an ensemble from Rossini’s “Viaggio a Reims,” and the ballets included Roland Petit’s lame pas de deux “Leda and the Swan.”

But a tag-team take on “Là ci darem la mano” from “Don Giovanni,” with Ms. Netrebko’s Zerlina being squired by five different Dons, was charming. And the mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina gave a melting, genuinely seductive performance of “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Saint-Saëns’s “Samson et Dalila.” At the end the entire company joined onstage in the soaring finale of Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta,” which Ms. Netrebko is to perform Friday afternoon.

It wasn’t Mr. Gergiev’s finest evening musically: the orchestra often felt staid and much of the conducting was sluggish, far from the galvanic effect he can have at his best. But the house’s acoustics are lucid and clean; the orchestra came together in a rich blend but individual voices â€" a harp, a piano â€" emerged clearly. And celebrating his 60th birthday on Thursday, Mr. Gergiev must have been simply relieved that the seemingly endless headache of building the gleaming new theater was finally over.