While the Bolshoi suffers, the Kirov/Mariinsky triumphs:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Gergiev: Maestro on A Mission<BR>Russia's gifted and controversial director has taken the Mariinsky Theater to new heights of musical accomplishment</B><P>ANDREW MEIER, Time<P>Coddling an Italian tenor fighting a cold. Teasing another half-hour out of an orchestra to rehearse it to its finest edge. Assuaging the fears of the governor's men about crowd control at an open-air concert by Placido Domingo. For some, it could be trying. But for Valery Gergiev, the super-maestro at the helm of St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater, it's just another day at the office.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.time.com/time/europe/ta/magazine/0,9868,131122,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>More</B></A>