Under the baton of Valery Gergiev, on November 29, 2006, the Mariinsky Concert Hall opened with a gala concert featuring pianist Lang Lang, violinists Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, tenor Vladimir Galuzin, Olga Trifonova and the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Including works by Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Massenet, Gulda and Verdi, "The two-hour program showed every dynamic, orchestration, color and mix of timbres possible. Successful acoustically and artistically; the building is very beautiful and warm," said WNFA Vice Chairman R. Douglas Sheldon.

The acoustical engineer was Japan's Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, who has engineered some of the most acoustically esteemed concert spaces in the world, including Sapporo Concert Hall in Tokyo and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

At the end of the concert, Moscow's Mayor Luzhkov, Alexei Kudrin and German Greff spoke, and a representative of the Emperor of Japan presented Maestro Gergiev with the Golden Order of the Rising Sun, one of Japan's highest honors.

"The opening of this hall marks the beginning of a new era for Russia," Russia's Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said. "It shows that the country is getting stronger and in such grand-scale cultural projects, state support goes hand in hand with private sponsorship. I find it a most encouraging sign."

"The fundraising was quick, generous and an international effort," Gergiev said. It was his initiative to build a concert hall on the site of the historic Mariinsky scenery warehouse destroyed in the 2003 fire which left only three external walls standing. In March 2005, with the scenery shop relocated,

Gergiev began fundraising. By June 2005 an initial $5 million had been raised ($2 million was raised by the 2005 White Nights Ball) and building work was started. By June 2006, $20 million had been raised.

The warehouse was built at the turn of the century by V.A. Shreter, the architect of St. Petersburg's Philharmonic Hall, as well as of opera houses in Kiev, Tblisi and Nizhni Novgorod.

Gergiev, Toyota and architect Xavier Fabre worked together to create the state-of-the-art using the three historic walls of the scenery warehouse as a starting point, with the new glass and copper façade of the hall rising above and extending beyond them. Glass busts of St. Petersburg's composers are displayed in the new hall, "They are the owners of the Hall," Gergiev said.

The Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall is to be a second home to the Mariinsky Orchestra and is arguably the first hall of its kind to be wholly owned by an Opera and Ballet theatre. Concerts and performances will complement and contrast with the program of the Mariinsky Theatre and an extensive schedule of educational activities is envisioned, with the emphasis on young people.

"The hall has risen from the ashes of our legendary past," Gergiev said. "The need for the revival of the burnt premises and the need for a new concert venue were great indeed, but Valery Gergiev's commendable burning enthusiasm for this Theatre made a much stronger impression," said Trade and Economic Development Minister German Gref. Aptly, the Finale of Stravinsky's Firebird closed the gala program.