Alexander F. Sklyar performed together with the Suvorov Cadet Band of the Moscow Military Music College named after Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov at the daytime show of the Spasskaya Tower International Military Music Festival. It unfolded beneath the walls of the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, where the guests on the stands had a chance to witness ensembles from Armenia, Belarus, Venezuela, Egypt, India, Russia, and Thailand.
The Spasskaya Tower Festival Russian and foreign participants prepared an unforgettable musical and dancing performance, seasoned with a lot of surprises, where the world's most famous classical masterpieces blend with national compositions. The Festival’s guests from abroad showcased musical presentations imbued with national hues and colors. The piercing notes of the Armenian duduk, variations on the themes of Belarusian folk songs for duda, Latin American rhythms, the enchanting sounds of the Egyptian flute and soulful Russian folk music sounded over the Cathedral Square.
Major General Timofey Mayakin, Head of the Military Band Service of the Russian Armed Forces—Chief Military Conductor and Music Director of the Spasskaya Tower Festival, said that the Festival’s daytime performance on the esplanade of the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces was among the highlights of this year’s anniversary run.
"If we talk about the current year, it is a special one for us. Here we opened our Military Bands in the City Parks program, and it was the very place where we held the program’s last performance. For all the military personnel, the Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces is a very special place", noted the music director of the Festival.
According to him, it is spirituality that relates to the Cathedral Square and the Spasskaya Tower Festival.
"Everything is related. That’s why we decided to hold the daytime performance here. Besides, September 3 is the anniversary of the end of World War II, a very significant date", said Major General Timofey Mayakin. He reminded us that back in 2020, the esplanade of the Main Cathedral Square hosted the remarkable evening performance of the Spasskaya Tower International Military Tattoo.
The daytime show was carried out both for the Russian Armed Forces military personnel and their families as well as guests of the Museum and Cathedral Complex of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Zvezda TV channel broadcast the performance live.
The esplanade welcomed the Military Band of the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff, the Exemplary Band and the Honor Guard Unit of the Belarus Armed Forces, the Great Military Band of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces ‘Supreme Commander Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias’, the Egyptian Symphonic Military Band, the Panghat Performing Arts Group from India, and the Boonwattana School Marching Band from Thailand.
Speaking of the Russian ensembles, the daytime show featured the Military Band and Honor Guard Unit of the 154 Preobrazhensky Regiment together with Sergey Makhovikov, the Central Military Band of the Russian Ministry of Defense together with Fyodor Rytikov, the Central Band of the Russian Navy named after Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (along with the Young Alexandrovs and Znamensky Drummers ensembles), the Suvorov Cadet Band of the Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov Moscow Military Music School together with the Girl Drummers Band of the All-Girls Boarding School of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the Merry Notes Children's Violin Ensemble.
The audiences on the stands and back at home also saw the performances by the Combined Band of the Russian Airborne Forces, the Exemplary Military Band of the Russian National Guard Forces, the Military Band of the Central National Guard District Headquarters, and the Band of the Russian National Guard Forces Chief Department for the Krasnodar Region.
The performance of the Kremlin Equestrian School riders and Martina Staemmler-Gerusel, a prominent German trainer, with her Vladimir heavy horses, Katyusha and Shokoladka, proved to be the Festival daytime show's showstopper, eliciting genuine excitement from all guests on the stands, particularly the youngest.
At the end of this amazing performance, the esplanade was hit by the Festival participants’ combined band.
The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces was constructed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory. The dimensions of the church are symbolic and refer to the main figures related to the Great Patriotic War's history. The diameter of the drum of the main dome is 19.45 meters, symbolizing the final year of the war, 1945. The height of the small dome is 14.18 meters, reflecting the 1,418 days and nights that the conflict lasted.
The Festival is carried out following the Order of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, under the aegis of the Public Council headed by Mr. Alexander Zhukov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the Moscow Department of Culture.
Photo: Maria Moskvitsova, Georgiy Basalaev, Andrey Golovanov
