The only concert in Krasnoyarsk “Russia Cast Adrift” will be held in the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre on June 14. For the first time, 12 verses by Sergei Yesenin set to music by Georgy Sviridov will be sung by one of the best opera singers of our time, Vladimir Baykov, accompanied by the Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Russian Orchestra named after Anatoly Bardin.

The music project is dedicated to Dmitri Hvorostovsky. The singer was a devoted performer of Georgy Sviridov's music. It’s symbolic that a quarter of a century ago the first work of Sviridov Hvorostovsky performed was precisely the poem “Russia Cast Adrift” in the original version for voice and piano. For the first time, Hvorostovsky performed it with pianist Mikhail Arkadiev in Los Angeles. After the final chords had ceased, the Americans gave them a standing ovation. In 1994-1995, Hvorostovsky and Arkadiev travelled half the world performing “Russia Cast Adrift”. The poem was played in Vienna, Hamburg, twice in London, Toronto, Cologne, Oslo, Glasgow, Lyon, Basel, Paris, Munich, Cardiff. The Hvorostovsky’s performance of this poem in twelve songs by Sviridov is truly regarded as one of the best performances of “Russia Cast Adrift” in more than 30 years.

“I’ve performed this Music Cycle for a long time nearly on all the continents, receiving thunderous ovations even in the most remote corners of the world. “Russia Cast Adrift” became a kind of hymn for us then, a song about us, about our lives, about poetry, the nature, the future and the past”, - Dmitri Hvorostovsky said about this work in one of his interviews.

Being already aware of his fatal illness, Hvorostovsky wanted to record Sviridov's poem and asked composer Eugene Stetsyuk to do its orchestration. In the summer of 2016, the recording was made under the baton of conductor Konstantin Orbelian and after the death of the singer it was nominated for the Grammy Award.

On June 14, “Russia Cast Adrift” will be performed in the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre by one of the best opera singers of our time, the soloist of the Hamburg State Opera and the guest soloist of several European theatres Vladimir Baykov. The singer possesses the voice of the Shalyapin’s range, he used to sing in the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre and Novaya Opera Theatre, a laureate of prestigious international competitions, including the Irina Arkhipova Foundation Award. His singing in the leading theatres of Europe enjoy constant success. Russian fans of music can hardly wait for his next performances.

Nowadays, Vladimir Baykov is considered to be one of the best performers of Georgy Sviridov's works. His rare musical sense, rich charming timbre fascinate listeners. His respect for a literary word enraptures the audience. The Sviridov's works sound in his performance sincere, heartfelt, in Sviridov's style.

The concert will also feature popular Russian folk songs, among them are “The Song of the Volga Boatmen”, “Kalinka”, “My Bonnie Lives”, “The Steppe Is All Around”, “Down the Peterskaya Road” and many others. The baritone soloists of the Krasnoyarsk Opera will perform them: People's Artist of Russia Vladimir Yefimov, Alexander Mikhalev, Alexei Bocharov, Andrei Silenko, Alexei Sokolov and Roman Khobta.

The singers will be accompanied by the Bardin Krasnoyarsk Philharmonic Russian Orchestra conducted by Valery Shelepov. This team has won recognition of the audience not only in Siberia but also abroad and is among the leading orchestras of the country. In their repertoire, there are about three thousand works of different styles. A lot of works were written by modern composers especially for this orchestra. Over the years, outstanding conductors and soloists collaborated with them, among them are People's Artists of Russia Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Iosif Kobzon, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, Renat Ibragimov and many others.