REQUIEM CONCERT AT GAZPROM ARENA

On January 27, 2024, the Gazprom Arena stadium in St. Petersburg hosted a requiem concert under the artistic direction of Yuri Bashmet, People’s Artist of the USSR, Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation.

The first part of the concert featured the famous songs of the war years: “Maybe There Was No War,” “Song of a Leningrad Woman,” “Ladoga Ice,” “Children of Leningrad,” “Siege Bread,” and “Ladoga,” performed by Grigory Chernetsov, Vitaly Aksyonov, Zara, Alexander Rosenbaum, and Vasily Gerello. The second part featured a performance about all stages of the Siege of Leningrad: its beginning, attempts to break through, the first hungry winter, the Road of Life, Operation Iskra, and the complete lifting of the siege.

The concert featured Yuri Bashmet, Konstantin Khabensky, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Vladimir Mashkov, Sergey Garmash, Alexander Rosenbaum, Yulia Peresild, Igor Sklyar, SHAMAN, students of the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, the Massed Choir of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia. The event was accompanied by stage and visual effects.

During the concert, the stage, symbolizing Leningrad, was divided from the parterre by a road that went through the entire stadium. At different stages of the concert, this road turned into the Neva River, the Road of Life, and the Shlisselburg Railway.

Veterans of the Great Patriotic War, defenders of Leningrad, its residents during the Siege, and home front workers were the concert’s guests of honor.

The concert was sponsored by VTB Bank and Bank DOM.RF.
The concert was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.