Alexandrov Ensemble

Alexandrov Ensemble is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the ensemble consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble.

Alexandrov Ensemble, along with the MVD Ensemble, are the only groups with the right to claim the title "Red Army Choir" .

The Alexandrov Ensemble has entertained audiences both in Russia and throughout the world, performing a range of music including folk tunes, hymns, operatic arias, and popular music. The group's repertoire has included The Volga Boatmen's Song, Katyusha, Kalinka, and Ave Maria.

The ensemble is named for its first director, Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883-1946). Its formal name since 1998 is Academic Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Russian Army named after A. V. Alexandrov (Russian: Академический ансамбль песни и пляски Российской Армии имени А. В. Александрова, Akademichesky ensemble pesni i plyaski Rossiyskoy Armii imeni A. V. Alexandrova), shortened to Academic Ensemble (Russian: Академический ансамбль, Akademichesky ensemble) on second reference.

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабоче-крестьянская Красная армия; РККА, or Raboche-krest'yanskaya Krasnaya armiya: RKKA, frequently shortened in Russian to Красная aрмия; KA, in English: Red Army) was the army and the air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and after 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established immediately after the 1917 October Revolution (Red October or Bolshevik Revolution). The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations (especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army) of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Beginning in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army" (Russian: Советская Армия (СА)/Sovetskaya Armija), until its dissolution in December 1991.

The Red Army is credited as being the decisive land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II. During operations on the Eastern Front, it fought 75%–80% of the German land forces (Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS) deployed in the war.

Red Army Choir

The term Red Army Choir may refer to:

The Alexandrov Ensemble does not recognize MVD Ensemble as an "Red Army Choir" and has expressed indignation at the MVD Ensemble's claims of inheriting the Red Army Choir tradition. Although the MVD Ensemble was never associated with the Red Army in Russia during Soviet times, many Western audiences came to associate the MVD Ensemble with the Alexandrov Ensemble due to their similar repertoire and wearing of uniforms during performances.

Song and Dance

Song and Dance is a musical comprising two acts, one told entirely in "Song" and one entirely in "Dance", tied together by a love story.

The first part is Tell Me on a Sunday, with lyrics by Don Black and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, about a young British woman's romantic misadventures in New York City and Hollywood. The second part is a ballet choreographed to Variations, composed by Lloyd Webber for his cellist brother Julian, which is based on the A Minor Caprice No. 24 by Paganini.

Development

The Song portion was written specifically for Marti Webb, and presented at the Sydmonton Festival in the summer of 1979. It was subsequently recorded and aired as a one-hour television special by the BBC the following January. The Dance portion was recorded in 1978, and nearly became incorporated into Cats. The opening sequence was utilized as the theme music for London Weekend Television's South Bank Show.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh proposed that the two pieces be combined under the umbrella title Song and Dance to acknowledge the primary aspect of each act, billing the piece as "a concert for the theatre".

Grand Kremlin Palace

Coordinates: 55°45′00″N 37°36′57″E / 55.75°N 37.6158°E / 55.75; 37.6158 The Grand Kremlin Palace (Большой Кремлёвский дворец; Bolshoy Kremlyovskiy Dvorets), also translated Great Kremlin Palace, was built from 1837 to 1849 in Moscow, Russia on the site of the estate of the Grand Princes, which had been established in the 14th century on Borovitsky Hill. Designed by a team of architects under the management of Konstantin Thon, it was intended to emphasise the greatness of Russian autocracy. Konstantin Thon was also the architect of the Kremlin Armoury and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The Grand Kremlin Palace was formerly the tsar's Moscow residence. Its construction involved the demolition of the previous Baroque palace on the site, designed by Rastrelli, and the Church of St. John the Baptist, constructed to a design by Aloisio the New in place of the first church ever built in Moscow.

Thon's palace is 125 metres long, 47 metres high, and has a total area of about 25,000 square metres. It includes the earlier Terem Palace, nine churches from the 14th, 16th, and 17th centuries, the Holy Vestibule, and over 700 rooms. The buildings of the Palace form a rectangle with an inner courtyard. The building appears to be three stories, but is actually two. The upper floor has two sets of windows. The west building of the Palace held state reception halls and the imperial family's private chambers (picture).