THE REQUIEM CONCERT DEDICATED TO THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

A unique concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was organized by the Russian Concert Agency together with the Rossiya TV channel. The concert began at 4 a.m. Moscow time on June 22, 2021, on the Soaring Bridge of Zaryadye Park in Moscow. At this early hour, famous musicians and artists performed together with Yuri Bashmet and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia in memory of all those who gave their lives for the freedom of our country. Against the golden background of the ancient domes and towers of the Kremlin, the people’s memory transformed into eternal music. At exactly four in the morning, Kuzma Bodrov’s Requiem to poems by Robert Rozhdestvensky was performed on the weightless Soaring Bridge.

«This is a concert in memory of those who did not return from the war. Every family lost someone to this war. To perform the requiem for the dead is most appropriate on this mournful day ,” said Yuri Bashmet, the project’s artistic director.

Famous actors Sergey Garmash, Sergey Bezrukov, Evgeny Mironov, Alexey Guskov, Alexander Petrov, Irina Pegova, Sergey Shakurov, and Marina Neyolova recited poems in memory of the fallen. Also taking part in the concert were Ildar Abdrazakov, Vadim Repin, Vitalia Kornienko, Ivan Bessonov, Alexander Rublev, and Timofey Yakhnov.

To make the symphony of sounds float over the hushed morning Moscow, a special stage was created for the Soaring Bridge concert.