Exclusive performance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by Mariinsky Orchestra with Conductor Valery Gergiev

PURCHASE — Indulge in the opulent sounds of Mahler's Fifth Symphony played by the historic Mariinsky Orchestra of St. Petersburg under the baton of the celebrated and dazzling conductor and artistic director Valery Gergiev.

During one marathon week at Carnegie Hall this October, the Mariinsky and Gergiev will perform all of Mahler's Symphonies – except for the Fifth, which will be heard in Purchase, in an evening performance, only by Center patrons at 8:30 p.m., Saturday, October 23, 2010, as part of The Center's Festival of Orchestras.

The Fifth, perhaps Mahler's best known symphony, was featured by Italian director Luchino Visconti in his 1971 film Death in Venice.The evening will open with The Mariinsky performing Debussy's Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun.

Tickets are $110, $85 and $65.

This season-opening evening also will include a gala pre-concert dinner to benefit The Performing Arts Center and its programs. There also will be a post-concert champagne and dessert reception with Maestro Gergiev. Gala patrons will enjoy prime orchestra seating for this performance. Tickets start at $500. For more information about the gala benefit, reception and tickets, call Anthony Busti in the Development Office at (914) 251-6213.

"The gripping performances these musicians from St. Petersburg offered had such intensity, character and insight that it was hard to imagine the music played with more authority." — New York Times

"The Kirov Orchestra is a perfectly balanced, impeccably blended virtuoso instrument, and Gergiev plays it with masterly élan." — Los Angeles Times

For more information and to buy concert-only tickets, call The Performing Arts Center ticket office (914-251-6200).  For more information, log onto The Center's Web site www.artscenter.org.

The Center's 33^rd season is made possible, in part, by the Basic Program Support Grant of Arts Westchester with funds from Westchester County Government.  Major sponsorship for the 2010-2011 season is provided by Vivian Milstein through the SVM Foundation.  We thank our dear friend Vivian Milstein for her generous gift, which has made possible this concentration of great artists in one season. The Festival of Orchestras is presented, in part, with support from the Tanaka Foundation.

Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, N.Y., is located 28 miles northeast of New York City at the Connecticut border. The College, part of the State University of New York, is an institution of public higher education encompassing the liberal arts and sciences, professional training in the performing and visual arts, continuing education, The Neuberger Museum of Art and The Performing Arts Center.