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Come to EXPOFORUM for a Festive Mood and Some Magic
The spirit of Christmas and the New Year materialized in the air with the very first chord as the orchestra began playing Carol of the Bells, one of the most popular New Year’s songs. Today, this melody is an integral part of the American culture. It can be heard in works of different genres, from Harry Potter or Kevin McCallister films to Simpsons cartoons or Die Hard film series. Very few people will remember, however, that the song is actually called Shchedryk, and that it was composed by Mykola Leontovich, a Ukrainian.
The first part of the show introduced the spectators to various traditions of New Year celebrations around the world. The accompanying video allowed the audience not only to hear the traditional New Year’s music, but see the celebrations themselves. For instance, the colorful images of the Chinese festival were accompanied by On the Moon, a popular folk song. The spirit of the New World was represented by the New Year carnival procession to the sounds of Brazil Fantasy by Konstantin Dyubenko. The song of Charles Dumont, Non, je ne regrette rien, accompanied the images of fireworks against the background of the Eiffel Tower in the festive city of Paris.
Even the items not intended for playing music were used in the performance to celebrate the New Year. Mikhail Golikov, conductor of the orchestra, performed Leroy Anderson’s Concerto for the Typewriter with Orchestra. Classical music pieces were not left out, either. Music by Richard Strauss, Antonio Vivaldi and Pyotr Tchaikovsky immersed the audience into the whirl of age-long traditions of celebrating the New Year.
The journey ended with a series of songs that every Russian citizen has known since their childhood, as the musicians performed Forest Deer, the waltz from movie The Irony of Fate, and I Asked the Yew-Tree.
Finally, there is no celebration without magic. The songs Tell Me, Snow Maiden and If It Were Not for Winter brought lots of joy to the young spectators, and allowed their parents to relive their childhood all over again, as they watched again their favorite cartoons in anticipation of the New Year’s vacation and many Christmas gifts.
The audience just would not let the musicians go. Tumultuous applause and the calls of encore! led to another 30 minutes of exciting musical performances. The orchestra played a Christmas medley for their devoted fans, from Happy New Year by Abba to the pinnacle of The Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
