On January 27, the day the Leningrad siege was lifted 76 years ago, Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi will be performed at the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. A prominent figure in world culture, Pavel Kogan, was invited as a music director and conductor.

Pavel Leonidovich Kogan is one of the most eminent and widely known Soviet and Russian conductors of our time. In 2011, the maestro was included in the list of 10 greatest conductors of the XX century compiled by the British television channel Classical TV. Pavel Leonidovich is Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra. Besides, he has been the guest Chief Conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra (Salt Lake City, the USA) for several years.

From the very beginning of his career, Pavel Leonidovich Kogan has performed along with the best orchestras on all five continents including the Saint Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestras of Munich, Helsinki, Luxembourg and Los Angeles, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and many other music collectives in Europe, Asia and America.

Pavel Kogan has many a time performed Verdi's Requiem. Requiem appeared as a Catholic funeral mass, it gradually became secular: a high genre of concert sacred music, a mourning oratorio. In Krasnoyarsk, the Russian audience-oriented version of Requiem will be introduced. The Latin text is translated into Russian.

“On January 27, Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem in E minor for soloists, choir and orchestra will be performed to remind us, the living, about people who died during the Leningrad siege. This magnificent work has never been limited by the traditions of Catholicism and is one of the most performed works in the world of the genre. Stage action and videos accompanying the performance of Requiem are going to exert a strong emotional impact upon the audience. Eternal music touches hearts of people of all nationalities and religions”, said Pavel Kogan.