The Spasskaya Tower is more than just a spectacle, it is the pinnacle of the military-musical pyramid. There are 18 similar festivals on a smaller scale in Russia: “Amur Waves” in Khabarovsk, the Agapkin and Shatrov Brass Band Festival in Tambov, “Spasskaya Tower on Sakhalin”, etc.
The Royal Edinburgh Festival is considered the largest festival of this kind abroad. It has been held in Scotland since 1950. This year, from 2 to 24 August. To understand the scale: in Edinburgh, in addition to the British, there will be military and police bands from Switzerland, Australia, Canada and the USA, as well as a female dance group from India. Those. Only six countries are taking part, and this despite the fact that no one has declared an “international isolation” for the British. But they are trying. The result is interesting: this time 9 countries are taking part in Moscow. We will see three military ensembles from Belarus, the orchestra of the Armed Forces of Venezuela, the military symphony orchestra of Egypt, the orchestra of the People’s Liberation Army of the People’s Republic of China, the first African women’s orchestra of the Guinean gendarmerie “Amazonas de Guinea” and the orchestra of the South African Air Force. We will also welcome an orchestra from Thailand and two ensembles from Turkey: “Mehter” and the dance “Ustalar Kilych Kalkan”.
“The historical ensemble “Mekhter” from the town of Inegol,” explains the artistic director of the festival, Sergei Khlebnikov. – This is important because there are quite a few Mekhter ensembles in Turkey.
Russians have travelled all over Turkey, but Inegol is almost unknown to us. And in vain. An ancient and beautiful town, not far from Bursa. It was part of Alexander the Great’s empire and later witnessed the epoch-making battles between the Ottomans and the Byzantines. The second Turkish team is another immersion in antiquity. Kilych Kalkan is a dance that is more than 700 years old. In fact, this is a “warm-up” for warriors before battle. Sabres and shields that will be used in the dance battle on Red Square are not props.
Turkey is also represented by cavalry. The horse track is no longer held on Red Square – there is no need for it, now the equestrian show is held at VDNKh. On August 24, there, on the historic Starting Circle (a landmark – the Vostok rocket, 200 meters to the north), the World Equestrian Championships will be held. Riders from 8 countries compete: Palestine, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, France, Yemen, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. And, of course, our own – the Kremlin Riding School regularly takes part in the festival. And in total from Russia – 15 orchestras and three guard of honour companies.
Total: 30 groups from Africa, South America and Eurasia. Never before has a festival raised so much. Will the format have to be changed?
“We have not changed the format,” says Sergei Khlebnikov. – It has been taking shape over the years, and the Spasskaya Tower is being held for the 16th time. This form is familiar and comfortable for the audience: evening performances from 8:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. We will distribute the performances to accommodate them.
Sergey Dmitrievich, do you invite star vocalists? Will there be fireworks every evening?
Sergei Khlebnikov: No stars were planned, although on the eve of the opening a CHAMAN concert was held on Red Square – on the Day of the National Flag of Russia. Yaroslav Dronov does not perform in our festival program, but his concert is called “Victory!”, which is symbolic. And in 2022, SHAMAN was our guest artist.
As for the fireworks, or as they are correctly called, “high-altitude fireworks”, we think that other special effects would be more appropriate nowadays. I hope that they will move the audience, make them stand up in the run-up to the finale and react with emotion. There is an interesting idea from the director: The twilight of war, very penetrating music. And who will come out and in what form… I cannot reveal these details yet. And in general: this is a must-see.
Will you provide tickets for SVO participants and their family members?
Sergey Khlebnikov: Of course! The festival is dedicated to the defenders of the Fatherland. We have set ourselves a goal: to promote unity and unity of the people in our difficult times. We remember the defenders of all eras, we pay tribute to the current ones who are participating in the SVO.
The project “Military Bands in Parks” has gone beyond Moscow, right?
Sergey Khlebnikov: This year, from July to the end of September, 22 concerts of our law enforcement orchestras will be held in Moscow and St. Petersburg. For this, we are grateful to the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. We are also grateful to the Ministry of Culture, which has not changed its position in supporting the festival. We will properly present the children’s program, including on the main platform of the Spasskaya Tower. In this regard, we would like to kindly recall the first musical director Valery Khalilov: he initiated this great and necessary work. Today, 200 children’s brass bands have already been created.
Surely you have opponents who say: is it possible to have a holiday when blood is being shed?
Sergey Khlebnikov: And we, the organizers, discussed it. But, as I said, the participants and veterans of the Northern Military District are our special guests. We have reduced the side events that are inappropriate in the current environment. We are talking about some kind of receptions, refreshments, etc. And one more thing: on large screens around the perimeter of the main stage we will broadcast a QR code, through which you can help internally displaced persons from the regions where the Armed Forces of Ukraine have invaded.
Sergey Dmitrievich, how could you surpass the Edinburgh festival in terms of the number of participating countries by 1.5 times? We have 9 (and I haven’t even counted the riders in the horse show yet), they have 6. Despite the fact that The Royal Edinburgh is considered almost a “style icon” of military music shows in the world.
Sergei Khlebnikov: My friends sent me an interesting photo from the podium at the festival in Edinburgh. Below is the stage, in the hands of the program. There are Great Britain and the United States, just two countries.
For various reasons, several countries were unable to participate. At first, there were even more people willing… We highly appreciate the participation of foreign groups. We are grateful to all those who came, and we are preparing a cultural programme for them. Getting to know Moscow will be interesting even for those who have already participated in the Spasskaya Tower in previous years. They will discover a lot of new things. Moscow is changing – an incredibly beautiful metropolis, and everyone is celebrating it.
By the way
Good news: the organizers of the Spasskaya Tower showed their will and financial ingenuity, keeping ticket prices at the level of previous years. On opening and closing days, these are traditionally the most popular performances, prices range from 2.3 thousand to 7.5 thousand rubles (August 23) and from 1.7 thousand to 10 thousand (September 1). On ordinary days you can find tickets for a thousand rubles.
If that sounds expensive, the audience at the aforementioned Edinburgh festival (which ends tomorrow) will shell out between £40 and £780 for a performance. Translated into rubles: from £4.7 thousand to £92 thousand.
– Is it even possible for free? – I ask Sergei Smirnov, the festival’s director, brazenly.
“It is possible for free,” Sergei Nikolaevich generously replies. – Come to VDNKh on August 24. Exactly at noon all foreign orchestras and ensembles, as well as our Suvorov students, will perform on the stage in front of the main entrance arch. The concert will last two hours and is absolutely free. And the next day, Sunday, concerts of foreign participants will be held in Moscow parks. Go to the official website of the festival, choose the park that suits you best or, conversely, a specific group, and enjoy from 12.00 to 14.00. And again, access to the show without tickets.
How many tickets were allocated to SVO participants and their families?
Sergey Smirnov: We summarize all the statistics and publish them not before the festival, but after its closing. Because there are changes and unforeseen events in the process. If we use preliminary figures, it is about 5,000 tickets. Whether this is a lot or not, judge for yourself: the total capacity of our grandstand complex is 6.3 thousand spectators. I would also like to note that on August 31, in Patriot Park, on the square in front of the Main Church of the Armed Forces, from 13:00 to 15:30, the Spasskaya Tower performance will take place. And there, 100% of spectator tickets will be handed over to our defenders, their relatives and friends.
