Red Army Choir mesmerizes Turkish audience with patriotic songs

ISTANBUL

Russia’s Alexandrov Ensemble, also known as the Red Army Choir, appeared with Turkish rockstar Haluk Levent on stage before Istanbul residents on Sept. 27 in the first of its series of concerts to be held across the country.

Russia’s world-renowned choir voiced an exhilarating repertoire along with eye-catching dance shows, while Levent sang Turkish heroic anthems such as the İzmir and Sakarya Marches, the songs that date back to Turkey’s Independence War.

The choir, on the other hand, performed a series of Soviet folk classics such as Kalinka, Smuglyanka and Ochi Chernye (Dark Eyes), giving more than 2,000 spectators at Turkcell Vadipark a mesmerizing and dazzling night.

Speaking to Hürriyet Daily News, Levent said that it was a childhood dream for him to share the same stage with the Red Army Choir, expressing that he experienced such great excitement while performing a duet with the iconic choir.

Levent and the choir will take the stage this evening in the last of their three-day concert series in Istanbul. After the Turkish metropolis, they will be performing in major Anatolian cities such as Adana, Konya, Antalya, Bursa and also Ankara.

A part of the income of these events will be donated to the Mehmetçik Foundation and the AHBAP Platform, a charity movement that aims to connect those in need with those who can help, founded by the singer.

The proceeds are planned to be used in the rehabilitation of areas damaged by massive wildfires in the Turkish riviera this summer which killed nine people and burned hundreds of thousands hectares of forests.

Appealing to a considerable fan base in Turkey as well as all over the world, the choir last met music lovers of all stripes in Istanbul two years ago as part of the 2019 Russian-Turkish Culture and Tourism Year activities.

Established in 1928 in the Central House of the Red Army, the ensemble has a repertoire of over 2,000 musical pieces. The choir made its first appearance to boost the morale of Russian soldiers and the peoples of the USSR during the early years of the superpower.

The booming baritones and melodies of the all-male choir presented a human face to many beyond the Iron Curtain of the Soviet Union’s fearsome Red Army that swept across Europe as part of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Losing 64 members in a jet crash in the Black Sea while on their way to Syria where the ensemble was due to perform a New Year’s concert for Russian soldiers serving in the war-torn country in 2016, the band rose from their ashes after causing great pain and sorrow to the millions of fans across the globe.