Delos Diary - War Songs Tour

The saga of the Hvorostovsky War Songs Tour which we described in our entry of May 19 has finally begun with new and dramatic developments leading up to the first concert in Tula scheduled for May 25.
No one knew in advance that this would be the day of the great Moscow area power outage, the worst and most extensive in years.
The intrepid and fearless conductor Constantine Orbelian has sent us an eyewitness account of the entire hair-raising first day, as suspenseful and entertaining as any soap opera.
It would be difficult to improve, so we will let you access it in Orbelian's own words:

Hvorostovsky/Orbelian 60th Anniversary "Hero Cities" tour, commemorating the end of WW II

Concert No. 1

The Trip to Tula

The first concert in our tour dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the end of WW II was scheduled to take place in the ancient Russian town of Tula, known for its arms manufacturing plants and its citizens' enormous contribution to the War effort. This town is located 150 kilometers southwest of Moscow.

Everything began as a normal morning,

Delos Press Release

May 2005 — For Immediate Release
Delos Artists Hvorostovsky, Orbelian and MCO perform in televised 60th Anniversary VE Day concert in Red Square and take War Songs on tour through "Hero Cities" of Russia May 25 - June 12
Monday, May 9th was the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, an event celebrated almost universally, but an especially big event in Russia where the conflict created havoc and destruction beyond description. To commemorate this occasion Russia staged a major parade and public gathering in Red Square and a gala concert at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, featuring crème de la crème Russian artists Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, led by their American Music Director Constantine Orbelian, and a 300-voice choir of young people. 53 heads of state from around the world attended this special concert. The program, televised throughout Russia, was built around songs from the War Years — songs beloved by the Russian public in the World War II era, a time of tragedy for every Russian family. These are the same songs to be heard on the Delos album Where are You, my Brothers? — Songs of the War Years (DE 3315).

"It was an amazing concert; something very special: moving and unforgettable," reports Constantine Orbelian. "President Putin had expressly asked Dmitri Hvorostovsky and me to perform this concert, built around the War Songs, for visiting heads of state, and for veterans of World War II. Of course everyone in the country knows these Songs from the War Years. Can you imagine how touched we all were when some of the WWII veterans came up to the stage after each song, bringing flowers and gifts to Hvorostovsky and me…

"I had a choir of 300 young people from 153 cities in Russia come together to perform at this concert. The choir was made up of music students who are studying at local choral academies in their hometowns. I had the preparation of the choir done at the prestigious Academy of Choral Arts in Moscow, which is a learning institution devoted to the choral arts. All of the music for the concert was sent to the choir two months in advance. I also had 30 invalid children who came from the “Hero Cities" [see below] for the occasion, and learned this music to perform with us on the stage of the Kremlin. It was the first trip to Moscow for these children; and to perform at the Kremlin on this day was an unforgettable experience for them.

"In fact this entire event was memorable for us all. The concert took place at 4 pm on May 9th, and was telecast again throughout Russia the evening of May 10. All Russians were glued to their TV sets on May 9th. In fact, most of the world saw some coverage of the parade on Red Square in the morning. Immediately after the parade, there was a rebroadcast throughout Russia of our Kremlin Palace concert from April 8, 2003, in which we had also performed the Songs from the War Years with Hvorostovsky and the MCO. On that occasion the Yale Alumni Chorus was singing with us, joined by the American Ambassador to Russia.

"Then, at 4 pm on this special May 9th, came the live concert at the Kremlin Palace, after which there was another countrywide rebroadcast: this time it was part of our May 28, 2004 Red Square concert with Hvorostovsky and the MCO, in which we also did some of the War Songs. Finally, at 8 pm, came the direct broadcast from Red Square, where Hvorostovsky sang once again."

The "Hero Cities" are those Russian cities that figured prominently in the pivotal battles and heroic victories of World War II. On May 25 Hvorostovsky, Orbelian and the MCO begin an intensive 2 1/2 week tour of the "Hero Cities," performing Songs of the War Years. Orbelian outlines the tour as follows:

May 25 - Tula
May 30 - Smolensk
June 2 - Volgograd (Stalingrad) this concert will be open air; 200,000 expected to attend!
June 5 - Krasnoyarsk
June 7 - Novosibirsk
June 9 - Ekaterinburg
June 12 - St. Petersburg, Palace Square - also an open air concert; 150,000 expected to attend.

In January/February of 2006, Orbelian, Hvorostovsky and the MCO will bring the Songs from the War Years program to Los Angeles, Washington (Kennedy Center), San Francisco, New York City (Lincoln Center), Montreal, Miami and London (Barbican).

Delos Diary

Better late than never! Big things are happening in the next few days which are bound to add to the luster of Dmitri Hvorostovsky, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and Constantine Orbelian, all Delos favorite artists.
Monday, May 9th is the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, an event celebrated almost universally, but an especially big event in Russia where the conflict created havoc and destruction beyond description.
To commemorate this occasion Russia is staging a major parade and public gathering in Red Square and a gala concert at the Kremlin Palace, over 80 heads of state including U.S. President George Bush are slated to attend and hear the offerings of the creme de la creme of Russian artists, including Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who will sing a selection of War Songs… some of the very ones you can hear on his Delos CD Where are You, my Brothers?
Busy Dmitri then rushes back to New York's Metropolitan Opera to finish his run as Valentin in the Met's new Faust, then back again to Russia to join Constantine Orbelian and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in an intense 2 1/2 week tour of Russian cities which figured prominently in World War II's pivotal battles and glorious victories. Between May 25 and June 12, Hvorostovsky, the MCO and Constantine will give concerts highlighting the War Songs in eight locations: Tula, Moscow, Smolensk, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, and St. Petersburg.
Those of you who have access to the RTV channel on your own TV at home can view a little preview this very weekend. Saturday night May 7 at 8 p.m. Constantine Orbelian is being interviewed about these coming events. He will probably add valuable insights and fascinating anecdotes, enriching the whole story of the war years and the ultimate survival with his unique viewpoint.