From Russia With Love - (Video created by Yulia Shkolnikova to Igor Krutoy's Instrumental version of the Whole Word is Love; thank you Yulia for capturing this memorable concert) - 7th Nov 2019
I have always tried my best to work with a variety of musicians from different cultures and backgrounds; it is the best learning ground for becoming a well-rounded musician and learning new styles. Music is an insight of country’s culture and customs; the melodies, styles of singing, lyrics and performances represent the social and political ideologies of a nation and its people.
When I was approached recently by Mila Ludmila to take part in a Russian concert, I had no idea that I was going to be playing for such well known seasoned Russian musicians (covering over decades of great music).
The Jubilee Concert was led by Pianist, Composer and Singer Igor Krutoy whose popular songs and compositions were sung by other well-known artists: Irina Allegrova, Alsou, Nikolay Baskov, Zhasmin, Dimash Kudaibergen, and Intars Busulis.
Each singer brought their individual and unique style and genre to the concert with Igor accompanying them on the Piano. However, one singer who stood out with an impressive vocal range was Dimash Kudaibergen; his songs were dark, haunting and beautiful with deep meanings (as explained by my Russian musician friends). This was evidenced by the number of bouquets he received on stage from the audience during his performance.
Unfortunately, my Russian is as good as my Chinese so could not understand any lyrics, however I did have a crash course in Russian 101 ten minutes before the concert, when trying to organize the music notes with the songs list (both written in Russian). Regardless, not understanding the lyrics did not prevent me from enjoying the melodies, performances, instrumentation, the lively audience and dive deep into performing the music.
Hats off to Mila who organized getting all the musicians together and taking care of all the necessary arrangements. Was honored to be part of Igor Krutoy’s concert and hope to take part in similar venues from other countries. This event was not just a music concert but an insight to the culture of an amazing country; the evening was filled with pure positive energy and superb talent from Russia With Love!!! ❤️🎵🎼🤘🕺🎹🎻😄👍 - Afaq Mufti