A festive concert of the Ensemble was held in the House of Music

There is very little time left until the day when our country and all progressive humanity will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. In anticipation of this significant event, on May 5, 2025, the Moscow International House of Music (MIHM) hosted a Gala Concert of the Academic Order "For Merit in Culture and Art" Song and Dance Ensemble of the Troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation under the direction of the artistic director and chief conductor, People's Artist of Russia, Hero of Labor of Russia, Major General Viktor Eliseev.

MIHM is one of the largest philharmonic complexes not only in Russia, but also in the whole world. Its 4 halls host daily performances by Russian and foreign symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, instrumental soloists, opera and ballet artists, theater, jazz, pop and folk groups. Today, the artists of the famous military musical group performed in the hall named in memory of the outstanding Russian conductor Evgeny Svetlanov.

The concert opened with the performance of the vocal and choreographic composition “Valor and Honor” (music and lyrics by A. Zaitsev, production by Honored Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania Ivan Zhelnov, soloist - Honored Artist of Russia Alexey Dmitriev).

“Sacred War” This song by Alexander Alexandrov with lyrics by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, written in the first days of the Great Patriotic War, became in fact the anthem of the defense of the Fatherland. The entire hall listened to this song standing, many did not hide their tears…

The theme of the defense of the Fatherland, the theme of Victory was the basis of the Ensemble's concert program today. Strong emotions were evoked in the audience by the immortal songs of the Great Patriotic War and works of Soviet composers about the war - "March of the Artillerymen" (T. Khrennikov - V. Gusev) performed by the choir and orchestra of the Ensemble, "Smuglyanka" (A. Novikov - Ya. Shvedov), "Let's Bow to Those Great Years" (A. Pakhmutova - M. Lvov) and, of course, "Victory Day" (D. Tukhmanov - V. Kharitonov) (soloist - Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia Grigory Yakovlev). The audience warmly received the performance of a medley of military songs (composition by A. Kukharenko, soloists - Honored Artist of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic Alexander Kokhov, Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia Igor Safonov, Honored Artists of the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania Mikhail Zarayev and Evgeny Yakhin, Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan Ruslan Abdrafikov, soloists of the Ensemble: Konstantin Kuzmin, Alexey Bosykh, Mikhail Mamonov, Viktor Lezhnin), a medley of military songs performed by a quartet of balalaika players under the direction of Ivana Stepanova.

As always, the Ensemble's concert program was diverse and multi-genre. The classical "component" of today's concert at the House of Music was represented by Calaf's aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot" (soloist - Honored Artist of Russia Alexei Volzhanin).

"I Want, My Darling, to Please You" is the name of a song by Alexander Averkin, performed by a quartet of balalaika players and the Ensemble's soloist - People's Artist of Russia Natalia Eliseeva. Thanks to the soulful manner of performance and the beautiful voice of the singer, this song is always a success with the public.

Another tradition of the Ensemble is inclusion of old romances, folk songs, works of national folklore and even original comic compositions in each concert program. Today, the stage of the House of Music featured the romance “The bell rattles monotonously” (A. Gurilev – I. Makarov, soloist – Honored Artist of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic Alexander Kokhov), the Russian folk song “Hey, we'll have a good time” (performed by the choir and orchestra of the Ensemble), a medley of Belarusian song themes (composition by G. Kardasevich, soloists - Honored Artist of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic Alexander Kokhov, Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia Grigory Yakovlev, Maksim Ostaltsev, Konstantin Kuzmin, Alexey Bosykh), a Russian folk-rock song "I'll Go Out to the Field with a Horse at Night" (I. Matvienko - A. Shaganov) and the song "Argo" from the musical "The Argonauts" (A. Basilia - D. Bagashvili) performed by the vocal octet and soloist - Honored Artist of Russia Sergey Bazylko.

The dance numbers were a great success with the audience: “Home with Victory” (directed by Honored Artist of Russia A. Safronov, arranged by A. Zarkov, soloist - Leonid Galyanov), the sailor dance “Yablochko” (directed by Honored Artist of Russia Yu. Gerasimov, arranged by M. Press), “Dance with Sabres” from the ballet “Gayane” A. Khachaturian (directed by Honored Artist of Russia Petr Kovalev, soloist - Evgenia Smolnikova), the fiery "Gypsy Fantasy" (composition and arrangement by I. Golubev, I. Kadomtsev, choreography by A. Bogdanov, soloists - People's Artist of Russia Natalia Eliseeva, Honored Artist of Russia Alexei Dmitriev, Evgeniy Nasonov).

The concert featured a special guest of the program - People's Artist of Russia Oleg Gazmanov he performed several pieces of his own composition.

The concert ended with a patriotic march by composer and conductor Vasily Agapkin to the words of Arkady Fedotov “Farewell of Slavyanka”.

The concert was hosted by Honored Artist of Russia, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, Colonel Igor Shustikov.