"Moscow Evenings" („Подмосковные вечера“)

The program of the concert includes eternal models of the Soviet mass song. In 1957 Soloviev-Sedoy's song "Moscow Evenings" based on the lyrics by Mikhail Matusovsky became an emblem of the 6^th World Festival of Youth and Students. Later, the song "Cranes" by Jan Frankel gained the same popularity and significance. The story of the first song begins with a commission for a movie score for a film about a sports contest to the composer VASILIY SOLOVYOV-SEDOY and the poet Mikhail Matusovsky. The authors proposed two different songs, each one with its own merits. At the very beginning, "Moscow Evenings" was not accepted unconditionally, its first performer refused to sing it, the composer himself was also skeptical. But gradually it became more and more popular with the popular singing repertoire and in the late 1990's it was even registered in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest number of performances. It got recognized among the ten most popular works of the twentieth century.