He sang and the people wept! ( Headline from Novosibersk

We arrived on June 6^th in the early afternoon…We departed Krasnoyarsk with some really splendid summer weather and arrived in Novosibirsk with the same good weather giving us the idea that Siberia is not so bad after all…

We were met at the airport with what has already become the norm… The Minister of Culture of the Novosibirsk region met us with flowers at the bottom of the stairway as we deplaned along with the local representative of Sberbank and other notables. All of the TV companies in town were there to greet us too and of course a small “arrival” interview was taken from Dmitri. One again police escorts were called in to get us from the airport to the Hotel “Sibir” with our motorcade without the hassles of traffic and other inconveniences such as red lights.

We checked in and had lunch and off we were to the press conference which was held at the hotel. It seems that Dmitri had been to Novosibirsk once before around 17 years ago when there was a group of young talented artists performing there from his home town of Krasnoyarsk. In all these years it never seemed to work out that he could make it out for a concert there during one of his tours of Russia. Either the dates were wrong or there simply was not enough time to make the 4 hour trip from Moscow recover from jet lag, do a concert and then return. This is not exactly an easy place to live: I must remind you as well that the median temperature there is -40 Centigrade in the winter and + 40 in the summer.

Novosibirsk is one of the most cultured of Siberian towns. The original name was Novo-Nikolaevsk and it was known for being a major artery on the Russian railway system. On a cultural note this city was also famous in Soviet times for its excellent symphony orchestra, ballet and opera house… The opera house is a story in itself… what a place!! The first performance at this gorgeous Opera House which would be a crown in any European capitol city was opened on May 12, 1945. Just imagine, at the time that Russia was fighting the enemy on the Western Front, the Siberian steppes were providing the artillery and tanks for them to do so, and building Opera Houses at the same time! A little known fact is that the Opera house was built by German Prisoners of War. Russia never ceases to amaze me!

The local conservatory is also one of the best in Russia. Maybe not to many people know that re-knowned violinists Maxim Vengerov and Vadim Repin were educated there and come from Novosibirsk.

At the press conference all of the usual questions were asked and a few of Dmitri’s friends showed up whom he hadn’t seen in many years. Besides the actual concerts, one of the wonderful things about this tour is that old friends have been able to make a new connection with their colleague with whom they have lost contact for one reason or another.

We then had a wonderful dinner set up at a local restaurant with the Governor of the Novosibirsk region Mr. Victor Tolokonski, and the local head of Sberbank and other important guests. The toasts were endless and the good feeling that we developed with all of the people there only reinforced my intuitive feeling that this place was going to be something special.

The concert was to take place at the local Ice Hockey Stadium, where 10,000 people were expected to attend and as in other cities a large plasma screen was set up in the plaza in front of the Stadium for people who were unable to get in.

I drove out to the Stadium in the late morning just to get my bearings and to see what the place looked like. I was very impressed with the stage and the way that things looked… the huge “Victory” Banner depicting the Victory Medal that so many Veterans were given at the end of the war was already hanging at the back of the stage and most of all I was happy to see that it was quite warm. Honestly, I was very worried about the temperature for both the musicians and for Dmitri. After all we still had 2 more concerts to do after this one and the last thing we all needed was for anyone to come down with a cold or flu.

Since one end of the Stadium was taken up with the stage and the huge “Victory” Banner, there were chairs set up on the ‘ice’ to accommodate 3,000 people. This area was covered with a special wooden covering and also something resembling Astroturf to make it look nice and for people not to freeze their feet off during the concert.

When 10,000 people that filled the Stadium, I realized that I was wrong in thinking that it was going to be too cold there…. In fact it was very warm and no one even thought about the fact that we were in fact performing on ice!

When the Governer introduced the orchestra, choir, myself and Dmitri the entire hall cheered us on and Dmitri was met with shouts of Bravo. Please keep in mind that he was only here once before as a young man from Krasnoyarsk…there has been no personal presence that he had built up with years of continual performances for people to “get to know” the artist as we know him in New York, London or San Francisco. They greeted him as if he was Yuri Gagarin or John Glenn….. in short he was greeted and met by the public as a National Hero.

The concert was as touching as the rest and the audience reaction was even more spontaneous than in some of the other cities. The sound system was superb in Novosibirsk and our sound people gave the people what they deserved.

I can only quote the local “ Vedomosti” Newspaper with the people’s reaction to this event:

“Even though it was terribly warm ourside, and the traffic was awful getting to the Stadium, the Novosibirsk public was there long before the concert began. Veterans dawned their best suits and pinned their War Medals on their uniforms, many of them brought flowers. When the concert finally began, Hvorostovsky sang in such a way that shivers ran up and down the spine of everyone present and no one could hold back their tears. The two hours of listening to Hvorostovsky sing flew by like a second. One was left breathless after each song with Veterans weeping, singing along with him, coming up to the stage and giving him flowers, gifts, notes and letters. Grandmothers bringing their grandchildren up to the stage for him to give the little child a pat on the head or a hug. Everything was wonderful and very touching. An 85 year old survivor of the Leningrad Blockade came up on stage to give Dmitri a large bouquet of flowers from the local Veterans’ organization, and said,   “Dmitri… Your voice and performance inspire us and make us believe in the future of our country!”

Veterans stood outside in the plaza in front of the Stadium, not wanting to leave the place where they had been given such happiness. No one wanted this evening to end and it was also great that all of the Veterans had a chance to see each other at such a wonderful event. Thank you Hvorostovsky!

We left with Dmitri and went back to the hotel. We were exhausted, and very happy!

This was just the middle of the tour!

Off to Ekaterinburg tomorrow.

17 June 2005 | Artist News | Comments