The "April Spring" has come to Zaryadye – the concert of the Ensemble took place within the framework of XXXIII International Art Festival (Pyongyang, North Korea)

"Day of the Sun" is the poetic name of the most significant holiday of the Korean people, celebrated in the country annually on April 15. According to established tradition, the International Art Festival of Friendship and Art "April Spring" is held every two years in the capital of the DPRK - Pyongyang. The first "April Spring" took place in 1982 and was dedicated to the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the birth of the great leader of the Korean people, Comrade Kim Il Sung.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the festival in establishing fruitful cooperation between cultural and artistic figures from different countries. In different years, outstanding figures of Russian culture - People's Artists of the USSR Lyudmila Zykina and Iosif Kobzon, People's Artist of Russia Larisa Dolina, as well as world-famous creative groups - the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia named after E.F. Svetlanov, the Big Symphony Orchestra of Russia, the State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble named after Igor Moiseyev and others.

The Academic 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, Major General Viktor Eliseev, was a repeated participant and winner of the Grand Prix of the "April Spring" festival. The famous military group is well known and loved in the DPRK - the Ensemble has repeatedly toured this country at the personal invitation of the leader of the republic, Comrade Kim Jong Il.

The festive concert of the Academic Order "For Merit in Culture and Art" of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation, timed to coincide with the XXXIII International Art Festival "April Spring", took place on January 12, 2024 in the Zaryadye Concert Hall.

"Song of the Commander Kim Il Sung" was the name of the Korean song that opened the concert program (music by Kim Won Gyun, lyrics by Lee Chang), performed by the soloist of the Ensemble, Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia Grigory Yakovlev. The song was performed in Korean.

Performance of songs in the national languages ​​of foreign countries is one of the distinctive features of the work of the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Guard. Today, the Song of Commander Kim Jong Il (performed by the choir and orchestra of the Ensemble) and the Korean song Heart's Desires were performed in Korean, masterfully performed by the soloist of the Ensemble, People's Artist of Russia Natalia Eliseeva.

The basis of the concert program of the Ensemble was songs of the war years, patriotic works. Today, they acquire a special sound. The choir and orchestra of the Ensemble performed the Song of the Artillerymen (T. Khrennikov - V. Gusev). The Song of War Correspondents (M. Blanter - K. Simonov) was performed in the concert by the soloist of the Ensemble, Honored Artist of the Republic of Khakassia Boris Dyakov. "Soldier's Suite" was the name of a potpourri based on themes of soldiers' songs (composition by A. Kukharenko), brilliantly performed by the soloists of the Ensemble: 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, Konstantin Kuzmin, Denis Khlyudnev, Alexey Bosykh, Mikhail Mamonov and Viktor Lezhnin. The legendary "Smuglyanka" (A. Novikov - Ya. Shvedov) was performed by the soloist of the Ensemble, Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia Grigory Yakovlev.

The artists of the Ensemble demonstrated high emotional intensity and virtuoso technique, performing 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).

A bright decoration of the concert was the world-famous "Kalinka" (directed by People's Artist of Russia A. Radyuk, arranged by Honored Artist of Russia A. Mazanov) performed by the choir, orchestra and dance group of the Ensemble (soloist - Honored Artist of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic Alexander Kokhov), as well as sparkling dance numbers: "Home with Victory" (directed by Honored Artist of Russia A. Safronov, arranged by A. Zarkov), "Oh, winter-winter" (directed by People's Artist of Russia A. Radyuk, arranged by V. Troshin), "Gypsy Fantasy" (composition and arrangement by I. Golubev, I. Kadomtsev, choreography by Artur Bogdanov, soloists - People's Artist of Russia Natalia Eliseeva, Honored Artist of Russia Alexey Dmitriev, Evgeny Nasonov).

The repertoire of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Guard is distinguished by its great diversity. Each concert program of the group includes works of world classical music, and works of Soviet composers, and folk songs, and humorous vocal and choreographic compositions. Today's concert was no exception - along with Calaf's aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera "Turandot" - one of the most famous and most difficult to perform arias of the tenor repertoire, performed by the soloist of the Ensemble, Honored Artist of Russia Alexei Volzhanin, along with the temperamental "Dance with Sabres" from Aram Khachaturian's ballet "Gayane" performed by the choir and orchestra of the Ensemble, Russian folk songs were performed on the stage of "Zaryadye" today: "Here the mail troika rushes" (soloist - People's Artist of Russia Grigory Pinyasov), "The Cossack galloped" (soloist - Dmitry Dolgy), "Along Piterskaya" (soloist - Honored Artist of Russia Viktor Gromov), a Cossack song "Unharness the horses, lads" (soloist - Honored Artist of the Republic of Dagestan Kirill Nikitin), Russian romance "Not for me" (N. Devitte - A. Molchanov, soloist - Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia Igor Safonov), heartfelt song by Mikhail Plyatskovsky to the lyrics of David Tukhmanov "The organ plays" soloist - Evgeny Nasonov), as well as the comic composition "I'll take you to the tundra" (M. Fradkin - M. Plyatskovsky, soloists - Honored Artists of Russia Ruslan Samozhapov and Norpol Tsydenov), which has become the personification of the peoples of the Far North.

The composition "Victory Day" (D. Tukhmanov - V. Kharitonov) was brilliantly performed by the soloist of the Ensemble, Honored Artist of the Republic of Dagestan Alexey Kholyavko.

The concert ended with a hymn dedicated to the Supreme Leader of the DPRK - Comrade Kim Jong-un, performed by the choir and orchestra of the Ensemble.

A video recording of the concert will be sent to the organizing committee of the XXXIII International Art Festival "April Spring" (Pyongyang, DPRK).