Photo:Bi Mengying/GT

Members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the largest and most prestigious military artistic team in Russia, showed off their talents at a press conference at the Russian Cultural Center in Beijing on Thursday. A series of amazing performances ended with "Moscow Nights" by members of the ensemble and Chinese artists.

Yet it was a warm-up for Chinese audiences, as the ensemble will take it to a larger stage over the weekend and perform at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. It will be the 11th time for the ensemble to perform in China and the seventh time to perform at the Great Hall of the People.

"The performance is to mark the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between China and Russia," said Gennady Sachenyuk, artistic director of the ensemble.

Qian Guangjian, a diehard fan of the ensemble, shared her precious memories about the Alexandrov Ensemble at the press conference. She has been following their performances since the 1990s. 

"They are soldiers without guns, inspiring people to guard their own countries with their songs," said Qian.

Gennady Sachenyuk (left), artistic director of the Alexandrov Ensemble signs autograph for Qian Guangjian (right) on press conference held in Beijing Thursday. Photo: Bi Mengying/GT

Beijing is not the ensemble's only stop in their visit to China. They kicked off the tour in Foshan, South China's Guangdong Province on November 26. Following Foshan, the ensemble also performed in other cities such as Shanghai, Luoyang and Jinan. 

"When it came to the last performance of 'Katyusha', everyone stood up while chanting 'huzzah.' The sounds of music and chanting fused with each other," posted one netizen named MinorTone on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, recalling the ensemble's performance in Shanghai.

"Katyusha" was one of the most popular classic Russian songs in China back in the 1950s. As MinorTone described, the performance seemed to be take people back to the 1950s. There were many elderly people in the audience, some of whom even had to lean on others for support. The melody brought back memories and nostalgia.

Founded in 1928, the ensemble's repertoire ranges from Russian folk songs to Western classical music. They also specialize in patriotic melodies and their unique renditions of popular Chinese folk songs.

In 1952, Chinese leader Mao Zedong met with the ensemble during their first trip to China. In 2009, 120 members of the ensemble performed in China to mark the 60th anniversary of establishment of the two countries' diplomatic ties.

On December 25, 2016, a Russian military aircraft en route from Moscow to Syria crashed in the Black Sea. None of the 92 people, who included members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, survived the accident. The reconstructed ensemble made their debut in China on January 4, 2018. 

Global Times