“Aleksey Butakov is a pianist, composer of the white emigration wave of the 1920s, who was at the origins of the Belgrade Opera and Ballet Theater (National Theatre),” say the organizers of the evening. “After the war, he ran a children’s music school and worked for Radio Belgrade.museum in Serbia, writer Elena Zelinskaya and actor Mark Dolash discovered the diary of composer and musician Alexei Butakov, which he kept in 1941-43, during his stay in a German concentration camp. Miraculously, the discovered notes were examined by experts who came to the following conclusion: “A piece of music distinguished by a remarkable academic level. The unique materials belonging to Butakov link the tragic pages of Europe, Serbia and Russia in the fate of a piece of music.”
Meanwhile, the works of Alexei Butakov, restored from his handwritten journals and audio recordings, will be performed by the Small Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Conductor – laureate of international and All-Russian competitions Mikhail Chernov.
It is emphasized that the joint study of the work and biography of Alexei Butakov by specialists from Serbia and Russia and the presentation of the composer’s musical works to the general public will be an inspiring example and a great discovery in the history of music.