The Mariinsky Chorus is well known both in Russia and abroad. It is interesting not only because of its high degree of professional musicianship, but also for its history, which is rich in events and is closely linked with the development of Russian music. In the mid 19th century, a period of intense activity by the outstanding opera conductor Eduard Nápravník, the Mariinsky Theatre staged the first productions of acclaimed operas by Borodin, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. The large-scale choral scenes in these operas were performed by the Mariinsky Chorus, an integral and dazzling component part of the Opera Company. The successful development of choral performance traditions at the theatre was due to the lofty professional endeavours of such outstanding chorus masters as Karl Kutschera, Ivan Pomazansky, Yevstafy Azeyev and Grigory Kazachenko. The foundations they laid were lovingly maintained by their successors, among them such chorus masters as Vladimir Stepanov, Avenir Mikhailov and Alexander Murin. Andrei Petrenko was the Mariinsky Theatre Chorus Master since 2000 to 2020. The Mariinsky Chorus has taken part in a number of recordings for the Mariinsky label under the baton of Valery Gergiev, among them Shostakovich’s The Nose (2009), Wagner’s Parsifal (2010), Shchedrin’s The Enchanted Wanderer (2010), Shostakovich’s Second and Eleventh Symphonies (2010), Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (2011) and Stravinsky’s Les Noces and Oedipus Rex (2010).