Singing at the Conservatory and Victory Day

Well I have done it - I sang in the Rachmaninoff Room of the Conservatory. It was wonderful even though it only lasted a few minutes. We had to be there really early to rehearse on stage. To be honest we spent most of the time sitting in a classroom waiting to go on. I didn't realise we could listen to the first half. Cathy from school came to listen and said it was wonderful. I'm still not sure what it was for, but there were two children's choirs and other choirs from around Moscow. I think we were the only amateur adult choir. The acustics were wonderful. Sergey says it is the best room to sing in. As we were first after the interval we then went and had mulled wine while I waited for Cathy. Julian turned up at the last minute having been away for three weeks so it was good to catch up on the news. He got out just before Europe shut down for the ash cloud.  Sadly I couldn't take any photos of the room, but here are a couple of the building I actually sang in.

This is where we went in through the wooden door inside the arch.

This is the building we sang in.

Yesterday I decided not to go to Church so we could go and see some of the Victory Day parade on Tveskaya. Several times when I have been in the city for rehearsals Tverskaya has been closed. On Tuesday I found lots of vehicals parked up ready for a drive through.

Also at school we have been treated to the planes practising flying down Tverskaya and over Red Square which was very exciting.

Sunday morning we were out by 8.30 to find a place at Mayakovskaya. It was busier than we expected but we managed to find a place by the barrier and then we waited.... and waited...... and waited. We were in place by 9.10 with the parade due to start in Red Square at 10.00. Finally at 11.00, right on cue, the aircraft came over. It started with helicopters flying flags.

They lined up in an odd place so I had to catch them between buildings. Then came planes in the formation of 65 for 65 years since the end of WW2.

Sorry, not very clear but I got better. There were several formations of different kinds of planes which were most impressive.

Then came all the military hardware choking us in fumes but impressive all the same.

Just a sample.

We then decided to walk down the back street to Red Square. On the way we stopped for a snack in Aquarius Gardens and saw these two water fountains.

Then we went passed Patriach's Ponds which is an area we have not explored before. It is now just one pond but I think it used to belong to the patriach (head of the Russian church) provding him with fish. Must read up on that one.

By the pond we found these bronze plaques obviously showing pictures from stories, but I'm not sure which ones. I will investigate further.

Fox and crow

Elephant and dog?

Musical animals

Pig and a tree

We soon found we couldn't get anywhere near Red Square so stopping for lunch at Christie Prudy we went to Exhibition Park at VDNK where Natalia had taken me. We used the main entrance which Natalia and I didn't do so I got a picture of the gate.

 It was crowded so we didn't stay for long as we were pretty tired by now, however the water fountains were on so I managed to get some pictures around the hoards.

This fountain represents people from the different people in the Soviet republic. Pretty spectacular.

Also the rather drab Aeroflot plane had been repainted for Victory Day. Not very clear I'm afraid.

By now we were foot sore and tired so caught the monorail and tram home. The day finished with fireworks. The main display was in Red Square and the river, but there were displays all over the city including here. We had a five minute walk to the corner of two main roads and waited with the crowds. The Police stopped the traffic on a major intersection and we had a spectacular display of mortars. We could have seen from the flat but it was good to be with the crowds despite the rain.  We could see more going up down the road.

So ended Victory Day. We watched the highlights on Russian news and headed to bed. I have some more photos of the Red Square displays but they are still on my camera and it is bedtime.

Till next time.