Red Square and the Metro

Olga and I went in to the city today.
We went on the Metro. The Moscow Metro has an enviable reputation, and rightly so.
The stations are architecturally magnificent and have high vaulted ceilings that take away any claustrophobic effect. The trains arrive every two minutes. Today I saw a young man give his seat up to a blind (white stick) passenger and a young girl kindly offered her seat to me. Manners and respect are evident; even if the young lady implied that I was a frail old git! I declined her offer!

You often see passengers with their heads buried in a book; not just on the trains but on the escalators as well. Some escalators are very long. The handrails move slightly faster than the stairs so you find your hand gradually creeping away from you and your arm round the waist of the person in front (she didn't seem to mind!). Olga remembers this from when she was young. No progress on that little problem then.

The Kremlin is impressive. It is huge and the walls are very high. You see tantalising glimpses of towers and spires within. There are still illuminated red stars on the spire pinnacles. There is the 'Tomb of the unknown soldier' just outside the Kremlin walls. It has an 'eternal' flame and always there are two guards, standing stock still, on either side of the tomb. The guards today were young women. They were in perspex sentry boxes to protect them from the excessive cold.

Red Square has an ice rink built in the centre and the department store opposite the Kremlin, Gum, is outlined in lights. It tried to outshine the Kremlin but it is a frivolous nonentity compared to the ancient, massive presence of this powerful political symbol. St Basil's Cathedral also had an understated magnificence in its floodlights at the far end of the square.

A service was in progress in the little church in a corner of the square. The bell ringer stands amongst the bells in the bell tower and rings out the peals from there. The Russian Quasimodo.

We did not stay long. It was too cold.

Do svedanya,

Graham

Music

There is a distinct difference in the way in which 'classical' music is treated in Russia from how we treat it in the West.
Russian artistes are highly revered and well known amongst certain circles (outside of 'popular' culture) so when a concert-goer looks for entertainment they look for the artiste first and the composer second. This is reflected in recorded music in that CD sleeve notes often tell a lot about the performers and very little, or nothing about the composer and the musicology.
Moscow is like any other capital city in that there is always something to go and see or liten to - every day of the year.
My one and only visit to the Bolshoi (the 'Big' theatre)was disappointing. It was a performance of Verdi's Nabucco. The opera was fine but the audience was appalling! They were tourists - only there because a visit to the Bolshoi was 'a must', and they had no idea how to behave: cameras flashing, phones ringing and the French woman next to me started singing along to the chorus of the Hebrew slaves. It was more akin to music hall.
Russian audiences are very well behaved; in fact I think they take a collective pride in knowing how to behave.
I have fond memories of a performance of Don Giovanni which took place in a small theatre close to Red Square: the singing was extraordinary, the production original and exciting whilst the audience was reverential and highly appreciative. This is a normal experience in Moscow concert halls and theatres.

It is -17C out there today. Olga and I are waiting for it to warm up to around -10C before we venture out!

Do Svedanya,
Graham
Factoid: Red Square has always been called that and has nothing to do with Communism.