We are proud. We do remember

The heroic history of the defence of Leningrad features stories involving our theatre. At the heart of the concert staged for the workers of the theatre to mark the seventieth anniversary of the end of the siege of Leningrad is the memory of the harsh war years that cast a pall over the theatre’s stage.

Members of the Maly Opera Theatre and their colleagues from other theatres who remained in the besieged city performed shows and concerts to raise the spirits of those defending the city. In November 1941, the first concert party, comprising 12 people, was sent to entertain troops on the Northwestern Front.
Later, more concert parties were formed, giving around 1,500 performances on different fronts throughout the war.

During the war, the Maly Opera Theatre continued its work while in evacuation. On 29 September 1941, it opened the season in Chkalov (now Orenburg). Operas and ballets were performed, along with symphonic concerts conducted by Boris Khaikin, Eduard Grikurov, and Kirill Kondrashin. While in Chkalov, the theatre raised RUB 300,000 towards the construction of a squadron of planes, and donated RUB 65,282 to the „art workers’ tanks“ fund.

Musicians, singers, and ballet dancers will all take part in the concert on 27 January, dedicated to the heroism of Leningrad during the siege. Opera company soloists, including Natalia Mironova, Marina Tregubovich, Dmitry Karpov, Nikolay Kopylov, Boris Pinkhasovich and Fyodor Ataskevich, will perform excerpts from operettas, as well as much-loved, tear-jerking songs from the war years.