GALA CONCERT AT THE BAIKONUR COSMODROME LAUNCH PAD 1
On April 12, 2021, the Russian Concert Agency held an unprecedented concert “The Anniversary of Human Space Flight” at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The artistic director for the project was People’s Artist of the USSR Yuri Bashmet.
The mystery concert was dedicated to the launch of the Vostok-1 spacecraft with the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the triumph of Russian science and technology. It took place on the launch pad, where the space age countdown had begun six decades earlier.
The music by four outstanding composers of different generations was performed at the legendary Baikonur Cosmodrome. Eduard Artemyev and Alexey Rybnikov prepared new arrangements of their famous works for the concert, and young composers Kuzma Bodrov and Kirill Richter presented their new music pieces dedicated to space. The concert’s overture by Kuzma Bodrov was performed by a children’s choir and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Russia conducted by Yuri Bashmet.
The gala concert featured the Bolshoi Theatre prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, opera stars Hibla Gerzmava and Bogdan Volkov, violinist Vadim Repin, and ballet dancer Sergey Polunin. The Suanbekov brothers presented a unique circus act “The Wheel of Death,” and the ropewalker Maxim Kagin made an impressive walk at a height of 45 meters. Actors Sergey Bezrukov, Irina Pegova, Sergey Garmash, Polina Agureeva, and others also took part in the concert. All concert numbers spoke of the eternal human dream of space and endless knowledge of the universe.
The magnificent show used unique technologies and unfolded on two stages located at a distance of over 200 meters. The concert footage was made by dozens of TV cameras and drones, and the event photography was made from satellites; the concert also included a live broadcast from the International Space Station.
The concert was organized by the Russian Concert Agency and the Rossiya TV channel with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Presidential Grants Fund.