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The concert "Dedication to Fyodor Chaliapin" took place on February 17 at the UN headquarters in Geneva. A musical evening dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Russian singer was organized by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation in Geneva and the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly.
The event took place at the Palais des Nations, where sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and other international events usually are held. Aleko’s cavatina from the opera of the same name by Sergei Rachmaninov, the romances “Everything Passes”, “Sleep”, “Lilac”, “In the Silence of a Secret Night”, Kuma’s arioso from the opera "The Enchantress" by Piotr Tchaikovsky, "The Song of the Flea" by Modest Mussorgsky and other works from the repertoire of Fyodor Chaliapin were performed by artists of the Grand Theater of Geneva Dmitry Tikhonov (bass), Vladimir Kazakov (baritone), Anna Samokhina (soprano) and accompanist of the Geneva Conservatory Irina Shkurindina.
“It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the opera concert “Dedication to Fyodor Chaliapin”, organized in honor of the 150th anniversary of the great singer,” Gennady Gatilov, Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Geneva Headquarters, said in a speech before the concert.
“Fyodor Ivanovich is an outstanding artist who combined in his work innate musicality, bright vocal abilities, and extraordinary acting skills. He had an invaluable influence on the world opera art,” the head of the Russian diplomatic mission noted.
Gennady Gatilov emphasized:
“We promote our masterpieces, masterpieces of Russian culture, regardless of the political situation. We proceed from the fact that art should be outside of politics. After all, it is simply impossible to delete the art of Russian composers and singers from the world art treasury.”
“The concert gathered a lot of spectators. This suggests that these people are not subject to speculation that Western politicians are trying to impose on them, to remove Russia from international venues, including cultural venues. We have other events ahead. Therefore, we will continue to use the UN platform to the best of our ability for the noble goals of consolidating and promoting Russian art,” the diplomat stressed.
“It is very important that this concert took place at the UN,” said Elmira Shcherbakova, Deputy Head of the General Secretariat, Chairman of the Council for International Cultural Cooperation of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly. “This is the only platform today that unites all countries. It should be reinforced with such beautiful projects.”
