Valery Gergiev is widely acclaimed as one of the leading conductors of our time. Currently director of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, he also holds posts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Rotterdam Orchestra, among others. You Cannot Start Without Me offers viewers an exclusive year in the life look at Gergiev on the go: rehearsal excerpts and performance sequences will be interspersed with the Maestros myriad of activities in London, New York and St. Petersburg over the course of a season to create an intimate portrait of a true classical music dynamo. In cinema verité style, the camera will capture his process and communications with musicians to illuminate his rehearsal strategy and technique—how he knows when to stop, when to speak, and when not to interrupt the music, encouraging or correcting with a glance. Proceeding on several levels simultaneously, this performance-documentary will allow viewers to know and understand Gergiev the man in order to better appreciate the brilliance of Gergiev the conductor.
