"Pesnyary" in the Kremlin

Today the State Kremlin Palace will host a concert dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Mulyavin - founder and artistic director of the ensemble "Pesnyary".  "Pesnyary" is a cult group, and it enjoys continued popularity with viewers. Combining in their songs Belarusian folklore and popular music, "Pesnyary" spawned a new trend, becoming the first and second to none in this genre.

At the gala evening the members of the ensemble "Pesnyary" –  Vladislav Misevich Igor Penh, Valery Daineko, Oleg Averin, Alexander Katikov,, Anatoly Kasheparov – will come to the stage. Special guests are Alexandra Pakhmutova, Nikolay Dobronravov, Oscar Feltsman, Igor Luchenok, Iosif Kobzon, Tamara Gverdtsiteli, Leshchenko, Oleg Gazmanov, Valeria, Alexander Marshall, Lolita, Julia Nachalova "Quattro", Dmitry Koldun, Ruslan Alehno, "Buranovskie Babushki", the State Academic Kuban Cossack Choir, Academic Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Russian Interior Ministry, the ensemble "Fidget" and the Grand Children's Choir of Radio and Television of Russia will participate in the concert.

Marina Komarova, Honoured Artist of Russia, director of the program "Pesnyary at all times".

The program of November 28 is not called simply "In memory of Mulyavin" but "Pesnyary at all times". I think many will agree with this - both the people who are peers of the ensemble and young people who now get pleasure from listening also to these songs. Because "Pesnyary at all times" is what we hear, what we love, what is in our hearts, and what is dear and pleasant to our ears. We'll talk about it at our concert, and of course, the most important person for Pesnyary is Mulyavin. This program is dedicated to his memory. I as the director want to make the concert not sad, not pained, but cheerful and reassuring, because if the songs sound, if we are talking about it, then life goes on. Songs will be played always in our hearts and souls. These are not just pretentious words on my part, but just what I actually think and want to say. When we started this story with such an event.

The GCD is the platform on which the main objective is not to conduct any shows. First of all, it seems to me, it is, after all, a socio-cultural area, where you can see and hear the different direction of the event. We hold classical concerts, folk concerts, festivals at all-Russian level. Ensembles from different cities that are already heroes not only for Muscovites, but also for visitors to the capital, come to us – for instance, the Kuban choir is worth mentioning. So when we decided to hold such an event, many groups agreed to participate in it, not just soloists of our dear and beloved pop music, but, as I said, big ensembles from Russia.

We move to the musical and artistic directions in which this collective works, the legendary band "Pesnyary" led by Mulyavin. And wherever you look, everywhere you can find something good. You see, there are simply vocal works, ballads, there even was some music in the rhythm of Bossa Nova. But there are also films – "Great Guy", "Birch Sap". There are also cartoons, oddly enough - you all know the most interesting cartoon "Nu, pogodi!" - and there are "Pesnyary" there with their song. There is a lovely cartoon "Kvaki-Zabiyaki", and here we'll make an interesting staging room with the ensemble “Fidget”. Our program is diverse, with different genres, and not just in the singing, vocal performance, but in genres.

Oleg Averin (joined Pesnyary in 1992)

November 28 coincides with the date when the following record appeared in our work record booklets: "The ensemble was renamed to "Belorusskiye Pesnyary ". Then we were in the "Belkontsert" and left government structures, and our creative team, which was first registered as a creative team of artists, was renamed on November 28. That was 14 years ago. When you ask how we are doing, what our creative plans are - this is a big part of our life, covering 14 years, and every day I am more inclined to think that we are pleased that the morning has come, and we are alive and well, our concerts do not represent a pitiful sight, we perform fairly decently, and often the audience in the hall stands up at the end of the concert. That's the most important thing and our main plan - to hear the applause for a decent performance of beautiful songs as long as possible. Many songs that were performed by the ensemble were quite independent even of those who performed, I would like to stress this point – there just were magical moments, like when the sky says: "Tell the people, you know how to tell this". And Mulyavin transmitted this to people in such a form and with such a content, that it even did not depend on him. Hearing the melody is not taking a pen and writing. It is being chosen for conveying this song to the audience. His merit is not in the fact that he has heard it. His merit is that he conveys it to people very accurately and with minimal loss. Therefore, when people combine a man who wrote the song with the song itself, I am always against this. A person can be different, but if at this point he performed his work for the transfer, then this light energy will indeed live very long. The main thing is to lose as little as possible during this transfer. Mulyavin succeeded. The result was songs that do not bother either artists or audience, and there are a lot of these songs. And when the song did not reach the audience, Mulyavin told me: "It's better to sing, I will look in their eyes, and I will feel". Then we returned to the dressing room, and he said, 'You know, we will not sing this song ". - "Maybe we should remake it?" - "No, that will never be done. We will not remake anything. Just burn the music text”.

Vladislav Misevich, Honoured Artist of the Republic of Belarus (joined Pesnyary in 1969)
 
"Pesnyary" - not us but our songs – will live "at all times". And if the repertoire of the last few years remains, this idea works, we will know that we have lived here these years, after Mulyavin’s death, not in vain, and, besides, we still have time.