An interesting report in the Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP) describes what must have been a very entertaining evening in Rabat when the legendary Red Army Ensemble came to town.
Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of king Mohammed VI, attended, Wednesday in the Rabat Mohammed V Theater, the concert of the academic ensemble of chorus of the Alexandrov red army, in its first show outside Russia.
But hold it right there. "...in its first show outside Russia" ?? Not quite true. At last count the ensemble has toured more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. One of the most famous tours, and one of which I have wonderful memories, was the outrageous teaming up with the Finish punk rock band, the Leningrad Cowboys.
In June 1993 the Leningrad Cowboys pulled off the most amazing production: "Total Balalaika Show", a joint concert with the full 160-member Russian Red Army Ensemble. The event was described by Variety magazine as "the most incongruous - and inspired – crosscultural pairing since Nureyev danced with Miss Piggy".
The setting for this sensational show was grandiose: the biggest stage ever built in Finland, in the Senate Square in Helsinki and witnessed by an enthusiastic audience of 70.000 people!
The Helsinki concert was followed in 1994 with a second Balalaika-joint-concert of the Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Ensemble. The "NOKIA Balalaika Show" took place at Berlin’s Lustgarten, where 60.000 people enjoyed the concert, which witnessed the farewell march of the allied troops. The show started with Beethoven, was followed by familiar hits like “Let’s work together” & "Gimme all your lovin" --- ending up in spectacular fireworks. All together, the Berlin concert received fantastic global media coverage and highly positive response.
The Red Army Choir have a long and interesting history. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945, the Ensemble performed around fifteen hundred concerts for the Red Army fighters.
Back in Russia, the Ensemble concert teams perform at military unit locations, military academies, military hospitals, Moscow squares, and the Moscow region towns as well as "hot beds", remote military bases, Russian towns and abroad, maintaining and developing best traditions set by its founder Major General A.V. Alexandrov, the People's Artist of the USSR. In the last couple of years the Alexandrov followers visited the Dniester Republic, Tajikistan and Chechnya regions.
The Ensemble repertoire consists of above two thousand musical and vocal compositions, among them: the Russian folk song Kalinka (arrow-wood), military song Zemlyanka (trench shelter), Den' Pobedy (the Victory Day) "full with tears in the eyes", the Russian and World classics, folklore songs, gypsy romances, spiritual music and around 15 dancing compositions. But I digress... back to Rabat and the report from MAP.
In his welcome address, culture minister, Mohamed Achaari, deemed that the presence of Prince Moulay Rachid evidences the excellence of relations between Morocco and Russia. He underlined that the excellence of these relations is not only serving bilateral cooperation, but also the promotion of peace, justice and equity worldwide.
For his part, Russian ambassador in Morocco, Alexandre Tokovinine said such events contribute to the consolidation of cultural links between the two countries.
The chorus, which was orchestrated by Lev Koulikov, charmed the audience with the choreographic shows titled "Invitation to Dance," "Marine Dance," "Cossack Dance," and "The Palech Box."
It also played Morocco’s national anthem.
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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