Passport Picks

Editor's Choice

Volare Around the Kremlin

The very beginning of the last month of winter is to be a real carnival holiday in Moscow. Gipsy Kings are coming! Gipsy Kings are a world famous group from Arles and Montpellier in France. Their parents fled from Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The band is best known for bringing Rumba Catalana, a pop-oriented version of traditional flamenco music to worldwide audiences. Their music has a particular Rumba Flamenca style. They explained the evolution of their sound in the 1996 PBS documentary of their lives and music, “Tierra Gitana (Gipsy Ground)”. Young brothers Nicholas, Canut and Paul Reyes accompanied their father, famed fl amenco singer Jose Reyes, who started out singing “cante jondo (deep song)”, traditional flamenco with long-running themes of passion, love, death, etc.

February 1 State Kremlin Palace 19:00 Stas Namin Theater January

But they began playing Rumba Flamenca because “we liked to watch pretty girls dance,” says Nicholas. They became popular with their self-titled first album, Gipsy Kings, which included the songs “Bamboleo” and the romantic ballad “Un Amor”. The song “Volare” on their second album Mosaique is a rumba version of Domenico Modugno’s Italian hit “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu”. The Gipsy Kings were enormously popular in France and throughout Europe as well as the Middle East. In 1989, their album was released in the United States, and it spent 40 weeks on the charts, one of very few Spanish language albums to do so.

Michel Comte: Women and Classics. Russian Drive in Vogue

Michel Comte was born in 1954 in Zurich, Switzerland. He began his career as an art restorer, but very soon became attracted by photography. He received his first international advertising assignment in 1979 from Karl Lagerfeld for the fashion house of Chloé and moved to Paris. In 1981 Michel moved to New York to work for American Vogue and later moved on to Los Angeles. Michel Comte is now one of the most sought after photographers in the beauty and fashion industry. He has photographed numerous celebrities from the world of art and cinema for Vanity Fair and Vogue. Julian Schnabel, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Mike Tyson and Michael Schumacher are among the celebrities photographed by Comte. Today Comte’s advertising clients include Armani, Dolce&Gabbana, Nike, Lancôme, Revlon, Ferrari, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz. Comte has also moved into photo-journalism. He travels to war zones on assignment for the International Red Cross Organization as well as his own Michel Comte Water Foundation.

In Russia the photographer is presenting a special portfolio of twelve famous Russian women including actresses, designers and gallery owners.

World Music Series: Solas

There are not a few bands in the world that perform Celtic music. Fans of Irish lyric ballads publish their own magazines, occupy radio frequencies and create internet forums. To be a leader in Celtic music a band needs to have special talents. The American band Solas is the one to see as they possess the talents that cause all of their concerts to be sold out. Moreover, the music critics have named the band, “the first genuinely Irish folk music band of American origin” and, “the most perfect band performing Celtic folklore.” Seamus Eagan brought together these experienced musicians ten years ago. Before creating Solas, Seamus Egan (flute, mandolin and guitars) released three acclaimed solo albums for Shanachie: 1985, Traditional Music of Ireland; 1990, A Week in January; and 1996, When Juniper Sleeps. Deirdre Scanlan, who provides the vocals for the band, released her solo album, Speak Softly, attracting widespread praise in Ireland.

International House of Music, Svetlanovsky Hall November 27 19:00

Winifred Horan’s (violin) duet album with fellow band member Mick McAuley (concertino) titled “Serenade” was one of the best received traditional albums of 2005. Eamon McElhom (keyboards) was awarded the Performing Rights Society/John Lennon Songwriters Award.

Moscow – Paris

This new musical at the Stas Namin Theater is promising to be one of the most exciting musical productions of 2008. It is staged by Lisa Monde, who also produced a successful play for children last year. This time around she is giving us a story for adults, sad and romantic at the same time. In Moscow – Paris, Lisa Monde also plays the part of the wife of Victor Vernier, a noted French composer, played by Victor Zazulin, an actor of the Vakhtangov Theater, honored as a National Artist of Russia, and an excellent singer. In addition, a number of athletes, members of the Russian National Wheelchair Fencing Paralympic Team, are also part of the musical. All are necessary to the plot!

Stas Namin Theater January

Other actors in the musical are Nikita Pozdniakov, Nina Raikina and Valeri Zadonsky. Stage manager and director is Aleksey Kazakov, who made his debut last year staging Five Letters (written by Mikhail Barschevsky) together with Anastasia Kharitonova, the choreographer.