The Sretensky Monastery Choir gave a concert at the ancient Temple of Bakhos in the heart of the historic Baalbek complex in Lebanon.
"The Temple of Bakhos in Baalbek is a central cultural site for the entire Middle East and is of great worldwide cultural significance. Events are forbidden in it with the exception of the annual Baalbek festival. So we are grateful to the Lebanese side for agreeing to hold such an event at this site. This is the first concert with an audience here in two years. The cultural life stopped when the pandemic broke out," Vadim Zaichikov, head of Rossotrudnichestvo's mission in Lebanon, told RIA Novosti.
The idea of the mission to hold a concert in the historic complex was supported by the ministry of culture of Lebanon and the municipality of Baalbek, providing all the conditions for the project.
Sretensky choir sang Russian songs "Polushko pole", "When we were at war" and other songs. When singing "Katyusha," the audience burst into applause.
"Today's concert, which featured well-known folk and pop songs as well as classical works in Russian and foreign languages, was organized by the Russian ministry of culture, the Russian House in Beirut, the Lebanese-Russian cultural center and the Baalbek municipality," Zaichikov added.
On Thursday, the choir of the Sretensky Monastery performed on Syria's main stage, the Assad House of Opera. Earlier in the day, the audience was able to hear Russian chanting at the Orthodox patriarchate.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from RIA Novosti