Concerts dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory were held in the capital of the Republic of MauritiusOn 9 and 11 May, famous Russian performers gave two concerts in Port Louis.

On 9 May, a sextet of soloists of the State Academic Russian Folk Ensemble “Russia” named after Lyudmila Zykina performed at the the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Mauritius. Anastasia Zakharova (domra), Alexander Bukin (accordion) and the vocal quartet of the Ensemble “Russia” featuring Polina Zhitlova, Anastasia Shapochkina, Victoria Belova and Anna Orlova presented a concert program that included such well-known songs as A Young Sailor Goes on a Visit, What You Were Like Before, Moscow Nights, etc. The applause did not stop all night, and the entire audience sang the legendary Katyusha together with the soloists.

In her speech, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Mauritius Irada Zeynalova emphasized: “We remember the siege of Leningrad. And we remember Stalingrad – a burned down city, from which people did not even have time to evacuate. We remember the battle for Moscow. Once I met a man who was a student at a ballet school during the war, and all students of ballet schools were sent to Smolensk for field work – they dug trenches. They returned to Moscow on foot, because  by that time the enemy was already advancing. After that, he could not dance for several months, because his feet were worn down to the bone. We do remember all this. We do remember Khatyn. We do remember a lot. And we must not forget.”

On  11 May, a concert of classical music was held at the Caudan Arts Centre to a full house. Distinguished Russian musicians took the stage: laureate of the X Tchaikovsky Competition Alexander Ghindin (piano), laureate of the XII Tchaikovsky Competition Gaik Kazazyan (violin), laureate of the XV Tchaikovsky Competition, winner of the All-Russian Music Competition (2010) Alexander Ramm (cello) and the Grand Prix winner of the 17th Tchaikovsky Competition Zinaida Tsarenko (mezzo-soprano). They performed works by great composers, as well as songs from the war years. As an encore, the trio (piano, cello, violin) played Mikael Tariverdiev’s music from the film Seventeen Moments of Spring.

The events were held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Mauritius, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Mauritius. Organizer – Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture ROSCONCERT.