SPbGASU choir congratulated their beloved city on its birthday

For the celebration of the City Day of St. Petersburg, the SPbGASU choir has released a new video with the music of St. Petersburg composers. According to the head of the choir Olga Kislitskaya, the creative team already has certain experience in creating video clips: recently, the choir released a video dedicated to victory Day on May 9.

– “This time, we used works exclusively of Petersburg authors. First, this was “The Magic Word”, a song of the leader of the Spleen group Alexander Vasiliev. It manifests the character of our city. The second song was the “Stone Duck”, a fragment of the cantata by Ilya Kuznetsov on the lyrics from Olga Berggolz’s Siege Diary. The choir has already performed this whole cantata several times; typically, on the day of the Leningrad siege lifting. The cantata was written for a choir with an orchestra, but the first number is a cappella, that is, unaccompanied. We often perform it in concerts. We managed to find a record of this work in the archives. And, of course, the Anthem to the Great City by Reingold Glier is a tribute to St. Petersburg, a praise of its solemnity and beauty,” said Olga Kislitskaya.

The first episode of the video clip was shot at the end of winter. Two other episodes were taken from the archive of concert performances.

We asked the choir participants to share their impressions on the work.

Second-year student of the Faculty of Civil Engineering Ilya Vedernikov:

– Filming the Magic Word video gave me a lot of enjoyment. The weather was changeable, sometimes it was quite windy, then the sun would come out, but despite this, we had a great time. Our choir takes prizes in competitions, and I believe that we will achieve greater heights.

Third-year student of the Faculty of Civil Engineering Lyubov Yerastova:

– I’ve been living in St. Petersburg since birth and I really love my city. That’s why I liked the idea of making a clip for the city birthday. Most of all I remember the scene at the end of the song, on the bridge, when we were literally blown away by icy wind, and you had to be looking at the camera with a smile. But despite the terrible weather, rain and sleet, we did it!

First-year student of the Faculty of Civil Engineering Irina Kovalchuk:

– It was very cold when we arrived on Rubinstein Street to shoot the first seconds of the video. We merely could not make ourselves smile at the camera. I had to take more than one take to get the desired result: one person starts the song, others gradually join in, and then we have a whole choir that goes from the old city to the new Petersburg. Old black and white photos are colorized, turned into modern photographs. We can see the development of the city, its hectic life; the happy people on the streets. I admire the songs of the "Spleen” group. They are saturated with the atmosphere of Peter’s city, its mood. That is why I would like to shoot another video with the Nevsky Prospekt song. In general, my dream is to sing songs of the Queen group! I am sure that the members of our team would charge these songs with new energy. Singing voices could replace instruments and create a masterpiece cover.

Third-grade student of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services Daria Kuklina:

– During the filming of the video for the song of the “Spleen” group, the Magic Word, the weather was quite typical for St. Petersburg. Walking around your favorite city and your favorite pastime - what could be better! I like the process of shooting videos, especially the ones that were shot in the historical center. It was an interesting experience. I would also like to learn and sing the Eccentric Man and There is Only One Moment songs by the whole team, as well as shoot a video for one of these songs.

Second-grade student of the Faculty of Architecture Maria Kozyreva:

– The Magic Word makes you think about many things. Personally for me, the song personifies something bright, gives a charge of positive emotions, encourages for endeavors. Filming took place on one of the February days. We traveled around the city learning something new about it. Of course, all this would not have been possible without our leader Olga Kislitskaya. I really hope that the choir will continue to delight St. Petersburg with its performances and find new fans!

First-grade student of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Municipal Services Diana Ovcharenko:

– I remember how we arrived to the bridge near the stadium on Krestovsky Island. The wind tore off our hats, literally knocked us down, and we tried to walk harmoniously close and not laugh at the camera: because the weather was only strengthening our cheerful and positive mood! The fact that we were in the city on the Neva River, singing for its glory, walking around one of the most beautiful places in Russia, gave us warm memories. It was a wonderful experience. By the next birthday of St. Petersburg, I would like to perform the Anthem to the Great City (The Sovereign City). I hope that we will create a whole collection of video clips of the SPbGASU choir.

The choir members are looking forward to new rehearsals. At the moment, video materials to create the Cossacks in Berlin video have already been assembled.

Text: Tatyana Petrova

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