It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Moscow, when Hvorostovsky; his manager from London, Mark Hildrew; his Moscow secretary, Elena Nedosekina; and I met at the entrance to the Byelorussian Train Station in Moscow.

We boarded the comfortable VIP car, especially reserved for us on the train to Smolensk. Most anyone would be surprised at the quality of service on this train. We all had sleeping compartments, and there was quite a menu that we could choose from for our lunch. The trip takes six hours and goes through some of the most beautiful countryside one can imagine: rolling hills, lakes and rivers; and above, a gorgeous blue sky.

We arrived at 8 p.m. at the Smolensk station. The Minister of Culture of the Smolensk region and the head of the local Philharmonic Society met us with flowers and TV cameras. Dmitri was immediately asked a few questions for the local TV News broadcast, and then we were on our way to the Governorr’s official residence 25 kilometers outside of Smolensk. This elegantly renovated 10-room, 4-story house was built in 1958 for Nikita Kruschev’s visit to Smolensk. There were 37 of these houses built that year all around the country. Since Joseph Stalin never traveled around the country there hadn’t been a need for official residences for the General Secretary of the Communist Party before Kruschev. This house is set in a beautiful pine forest, and the air is filled with that healthy fragrance. With each breath you seem to cleanse your being of all of the impurities of living in the city.

We took a walk about the grounds and were confronted by mosquitoes wherever we went… Good thing we had a Brit with us; Mark Hildrew went right back to the guest house and pulled out a bottle of mosquito repellent that he just happened to bring with him in his bag from London. Indeed this saved us, and we were able to continue our walk around the property.

It was already 10 p.m. when dinner was served in typical Soviet high rank style, and then we all headed off to our rooms for the night.

We all converged at 9 a.m. for breakfast in the same dining room and then prepared ourselves for a trip into town and for a press conference.

At the press conference Dmitri explained that he had been in Smolensk three times before in the early 90s. Dmitri’s victory in 1987 at the Glinka Competition  (Russia’s most famous vocal competition) gave him the opportunity to begin touring the country. Smolensk was on the touring schedule because this was the birthplace of composer Mikhail Glinka; and in fact there is a Glinka Festival that takes place every May. Reporters came with photos of themselves with Dmitri from his previous visits and scrapbooks with articles about him and programs from the concerts he sang here. It was all very nice and the atmosphere was extremely friendly.

Dmitri went back to the hotel to rest and Vladimir Zubitsky, the producer of the tour, and I stayed in town to make sure that everything was being set up to our satisfaction.

The concert was to take place at the beautiful Smolensk Drama Theater (the largest concert hall in town, with 1,000 seats) and there was a huge plasma screen set up on the main square (Lenin Square) where people could just come up and watch the concert for free. As a matter of fact all of the tickets were free, even for those inside the theater; that was the whole idea of this tour. Veterans were once again the favored members of the audience, and preference was given to them.

Once again, as in Moscow and Tula, our orchestra was joined by a large chorus of wonderful young people, ages 7 to 23: the International UNESCO Choir. Some of them came with the orchestra from Moscow, and some were from Smolensk. These young people train at special choral academies funded by the World of Art Foundation, in a program that I believe is unique to Russia. This network of choral academies educates handicapped children, ill children, children with birth defects, and gives everyone training to become choral singers at the professional level. They train every day. Some of these young people cannot talk, but they can sing. The TV cameras filming the stage would not necessarily give you a view of the front rows of the chorus, where we have the young people in wheelchairs. But they’re there, singing their hearts out, and singing beautifully, as is everyone in the chorus.

Dmitri arrived at the theater at 6 p.m.; we had a 15-minute sound check and then we all dispersed to change our clothes and get ready for the evening’s performance.

The theater was filled to standing room only capacity!

At 7 p.m., I walked out on stage and we performed the Russian National Anthem. I was very moved when I turned around to bow to the audience and saw rows and rows of Veterans standing in their uniforms, with medals on full display.

A well-known local actress had been asked to open the concert with a little introduction, and she certainly set the tone for what was to come. By the time Dmitri and I walked out on stage the orchestra was already teary-eyed and the mood was set for the entire performance.

Smolensk has been the scene of many tragic battles over hundreds of years. Located near the Byelorus, Poland and Lithuania, it was one of the first large towns in Russia subject to a crushing German attack in 1941. In fact it was in the Smolensk region that the decisive battles of 1941 took place. Though the Russian forces were outnumbered, and their armaments vastly outnumbered, the Russian counterattacks and stubborn defense of Smolensk forced the Germans to alter their strategy and divert troops from other fronts, such as the Leningrad region. The delay this caused in the German offensive is considered to have made a significant contribution to the successful Russian defense of Leningrad and Moscow in December of 1941. The population of this Hero City of Smolensk had been 300,000 before WW II, but only 90,000 were left after the war. By 1945, the city had been destroyed, and the people were left with the impossible task of trying to rebuild their city.

After every song, Veterans came up to the stage to give Dmitri flowers; and after “Dark is the night,” a woman came up on stage in full uniform, gave Dmitri flowers and a big hug, and told the entire audience that these songs that Dmitri was performing had in fact helped them get through the war — had given them courage and the will to continue for their beloved motherland. She was a General of the Red Army Women’s Air Force Division formed in 1941 to fight against the enemy. There were 5,000 women in her battalion; and now in 2005, 60 years after their victory, there are 37 women still living. Today their Veterans organization is called “Friends from the Front,” and they have a very special place in the hearts of all of the citizens of Smolensk. This 90-year-old lady stood on the stage alongside Dmitri, with her back straight, and gave all of us a lesson in courage, determination and what will power is all about. Needless to say, the entire orchestra and choir were in tears at this point, and I was the first to lose my self-control, desperately checking my pockets for a handkerchief.

After every song there was an ovation; and at the beginning of each new song there was applause as soon as the audience recognized which song we were going to perform.

Since I was inside the theater I had no idea what the reaction was outside. If the theater was filled with Veterans and elderly people, Lenin Square just outside the Theater was filled with young people glued to the huge plasma screen. By some official estimates there were some 20,000 people standing out there. We’ll have some eyewitness accounts on the situation in the square, so back to this later.

After the last song, the Governor of the Smolensk region came up onto the stage and gave Dmitri a huge bouquet of flowers and thanked him from the citizens of his hometown.

I quickly changed into my street clothes and went out of the backstage entrance. There were at least 1,000 people waiting out there to see Dmitri and to congratulate him and thank him for the concert. He very graciously signed some program booklets and we were off to the train station for our overnight return to Moscow.

We’ll have one day off here in Moscow and leave for Volgograd on June 1.

3 June 2005 | Artist News | Comments