The season’s second Grand Slam tennis tournament, the French Open, starts at Roland Garros courts on Sunday. The tournament marks its 80th anniversary this year. The best tennis players, including 23 Russians from across the world, will compete for the trophy in the next two weeks. The prize fund is about 15 million euros (553.088 million roubles. 11.861 million UK pounds. 23.375 million USD). Two Russians will play on the first day. Galina Voskoboeva meets with Julia Fedosova, who represents France, and Yekaterina meets Catalina Costano from Colombia.
Russia to present proposals in Brussels for the city of Kazan to host the Universiada Games in 2013
A Russian delegation leaves for Brussels today to present the bid of the city of Kazan in Tartarstan to host the 27th Summer Student Sport Games of 2013, the Universiada. Over 100 persons will represent Russia in the Belgian capital, officials, athletes, and students. Besides Kazan, cities in South Korea and Spain are claiming the right to play host to Universiada-13. The site of the student games will be announced on 31 May. The Universiada was held in Russia only once in all of its 85-year history, in Moscow, in the summer of 1973.
A Russian fan of Manchester United has been arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing a friend who supported Chelsea after an alcohol-fuelled row, investigators in Nizhniy Novgorod said on Wednesday. The dispute in Russia’s third-largest city took place on 22 May, the day after Manchester United defeated Chelsea on penalties in an all-English Champions League final at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium. Russian business news agency RBC said the 30-year-old Manchester United fan had been drinking vodka at the country house of his 64-year-old friend. When a heated discussion arose over which of the two teams was better, the Red Devils fan stabbed the pensioner in the heart. The victim died on the spot. A spokesman for the investigation department in the city prosecutor’s office told RIA-Novosti that the suspect was arrested two days after the incident, and he faces between six and 15 years in prison.
The film Tulip by Russian director Sergei Dvortsev won the Prix Un Certain Regard award, the second most-significant prize of the Cannes film festival. The closing ceremony of the festival will be on Sunday. The film Tulpan, according to critics, is a bright example of the combination of documentary and feature films. It is a story of a young Kazakh who returned from military service to his native steppe and dreams of marrying to get a flock of sheep to become a real shepherd. The film was also awarded the youth prize. Moreover, a film by fellow-Russian Valeria Gai Germanika, All will die, But I will Remain, which was presented in a parallel programme, won the second prize for youth.
Valeria Gai Germanika of Russia Awarded a Special Prize in Cannes
Valeria Gai Germanika (1984- ), contemporary Russian film-maker
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Valeria Gai Germanika of Russia was awarded a special prize of the panel of judges of the Golden Film Camera competition in the framework of the 61st Cannes Film Festival for her movie All Will Die, But I Will Remain. The main prize went to the British director Steve McQueen for his movie Hunger. The top prize of the 61st Cannes Festival, which drew to a close on Sunday, the Palme d’Or, went to a movie by a French Director. The movie is The Class and it was shot by Laurent Cantet. It’s the first time since 1987 that a French film has won the Palme d’Or.
Tallinn Played Host to a Concert by the Voice of Russia’s Pokrov Chamber Choir
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On Sunday, Tallinn played host to a concert by the Voice of Russia’s Pokrov Chamber Choir to commemorate Aleksei Lvov, the composer of the first Russian national anthem, Bozhe Tsaryu Khranit (God, Save the Tsar). The concert formed part of the 15th Credo International Festival of Orthodox Sacred Music, which is an annual occurrence in Tallinn and other Estonian cities. 175 years ago, Tsar Nicholas I approved by an Imperial Rescript Maestro Lvov’s composition set to lyrics by Vassily Zhukovsky as the national anthem of the Russian Empire. The anthem was used until the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Aleksei Lvov was born in the city of Revel, which is currently known as Tallinn, in 1798. He spent the best years of his life at the Imperial Court in St Petersburg. He died at an estate near Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1870.
Later today, the Zerkalo (Mirror) International Film Festival to commemorate the prominent Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky is due to kick off in the city of Ivanovo, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Moscow. More than 400 prominent Russian and foreign film actors, directors, and film critics are slated to attend. The first item on the festival programme is the screening of the restored full version of Tarkovsky’s movie Andrei Rublyov. The festival is named after Andrei Tarkovsky’s largely autobiographical film Zerkalo. The first festival was held last year, when Mr Tarkovsky would have turned 75. It was then that the decision was taken to hold the film forum every year. 130 films from various countries have been submitted for screening during this year’s festival.
Rakhmaninov International Competition to Open in Moscow
Sergei Rakhmaninov (1873-1943), famed Russian composer, conductor, and pianist
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35 pianists from 13 countries will take part in the First Sergei Rakhmaninov International Competition, which is opening tonight at Moscow’s imposing DomMuzyka (House of Music) complex. Musicians from Armenia, Belarus, Germany, China, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland, the United States, Russia, and other countries will vie for the competition’s top 10,000 dollar (236,160 roubles. 6,390 euros. 5,050 UK pounds) prize.
The best Russian watercolours of the 17th through the 20th centuries are on display at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The exposition features works by Valentin Serov, Aleksandr Benois, Karl Bryullov, Aleksandr Ivanov, Vasili Surikov, Mikhail Vrubel, and other less-known painters.
Lithuanian Cultural Festival Opens in Novgorod Oblast
St Christopher Chamber Orchestra of Vilnius, founded 1994
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The Lithuanian Cultural Festival has opened in Novgorod oblast. It is a long-term cultural programme that presents the arts and culture of the Baltic state in various regions throughout Russia. Paintings by painters from Vilnius are on display, the St Christopher Chamber Orchestra shall stage concerts, and Lithuanian documentary films are to be screened in Veliki Novgorod. Lithuanian books translated into Russian will be displayed at the Novgorod Kremlin.
The International Fine Arts Salon opened in the Manezh exhibition hall in the centre of Moscow. Over 80 galleries from many countries, including the USA, Britain, France, Hungary, Japan, and German are participants in the show. The display includes masterpieces of world art from the 16th century to the present day. However, an accent has been put on contemporary art. The display includes paintings, furniture, sculpture, icons, chinaware, and jewellery. Among the paintings are works by Russian painters such as Vasili Kandinsky, Ivan Shishkin, Konstantin Korovin, Marc Chagall, and Ivan Aivazovsky.
Second International Summer School for Young Theatre Artists in Russia
Oleg Tabakov (1935- ), honoured Russian actor and theatre producer
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The second International Summer School for Young Theatre Artists, organised by the Theatre Union of Russia, will take place at the Zvenigorod Art Centre in the Moscow outskirts, Aleksandr Kalyagin, the Theatre Union Chairman, said at a news conference on Tuesday. The school, an ambitious educational project, is sponsored by the Theatre Union, the Foreign and Culture ministries, and the Moscow regional culture board. This year, the school will attract 120 actors from 29 countries, including from former Soviet republics. Six productions of various genres will be staged at the school, which also offers elocution, movement, fencing, acrobatics, acting technique, and other classes by leading professors from Moscow and St Petersburg drama schools. “The Russian school of acting is known throughout the world, and we have every reason to be proud of it. Our excellent performers have inherited its glorious traditions, and I am glad that many of them agreed to give master classes at our school”, Mr Kalyagin said. Master classes will be led by foremost stage directors and performers, in particular, Pyotr Fomenko, Alexander Shirvindt, Oleg Tabakov, Leonid Kheifets, and Aleksandr Kalyagin. “Russia has never seen a stage educational project of such a large scale as this. It matters tremendously, because nothing can substitute schooling, it takes more stage practice than library reading to see what acting is about. The fundamentals of acting are passed from professor to student”, Mr Kalyagin said. “I am sure the school will be of great professional help to all its students. I hope it will become an annual event and so it can start restoring the broken links between generations, without which the theatre will not make any progress”, he added.
Christie’s to Hold Unprecedented Sale of Orthodox Icons in London
Over 230 Orthodox icons and artefacts due to go under the hammer on 9 June are expected to fetch around 5 million pounds (233.905 million roubles. 6.326 million euros. 9.905 USD), a representative from Christie’s of London said on Thursday. The auction, Icons and Artefacts from the Orthodox World will feature over 230 lots of church and religious artefacts, including Greek and Russian icons, dated between the 15th to the 20th centuries. “This is the most valuable icon sale ever organised in the international market, and is expected to fetch in the region of five million pounds”, Christie’s said on its website. A 19th century Gospel Book, bearing the initials of Grand Duke Aleksandr Romanov, the son-in-law of Tsar Alexander III, is expected to fetch 70,000 to 90,000 USD (1.653 million to 2.125 million roubles. 44,709 to 57, 483 euros. 35,336 to 45,432 UK pounds). A large number of rare Russian narrative icons, depicting a Biblical story or the life of a saint through a sequence of episodes, are due to be sold in the auction. A late 15th century icon, The Infancy of Christ, is thought to be the most valuable in this category, with a guide price around 160,000 to 240,000 USD (3.778 to 5.667 million roubles. 102,192 to 153,288 euros. 80,768 to 121,152 UK pounds). The 17th century The Adoration of the Mother of God commissioned by Maksim Stroganov, the family that was responsible for establishing the Stroganov School of icon-painting in northern Russia in the 16th century, is expected to fetch 80,000 to 120,000 USD (1.889 to 2.833 million roubles. 51,096 to 76,644 euros. 40,384 to 60,576 UK pounds). The icon can be directly linked to the family of rich Russian merchants and industrialists and was traditionally used during wedding ceremonies. The auction will also feature 19th century Russian icons, including a large selection in gold and silver okladi (icon-covers), including a rare pair of wedding icons, valued at 80,000 to 120,000 USD (exchange rates as per preceding note), painted by Pavel Ovchinnikov, the main competitor of the Russian Silver Age jeweller, Peter Carl Fabergé.
Russia is carrying out large-scale humanitarian aid in earthquake-hit areas in China. On Monday, a plane of the Ministry of Emergency Situations delivered another lot of humanitarian cargo to Sichuan. Thus, Russian planes have already made 21 flights to the stricken region. Experts said that it suffered its most devastating earthquake in 30 years. The Russian rescue teams were the first to help China within a world-wide humanitarian programme. Hundreds of tons of cargo have been already transported to the Chinese people, medicines, tents, blankets, clothes, water purifiers, and mobile electric generators. Whilst on an official visit to China on Friday, President Dmitri Medvedev ordered troops to China to help the humanitarian effort. Another 250 tons of cargo have been delivered to the earthquake zones while thousands of quake victims are taking shelter from heavy rains under the tents.
On Sunday a strong aftershock struck south-western China, killing two and injuring 500 people. However, the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not stop the delivery of cargo to the areas affected by the earthquake. According to Irina Andrianova, a spokesman for the Ministry, a Russian mobile hospital will continue its work as long as it is necessary. Many quake victims have already been treated by a team of Russian doctors. They all receive it on time. All the patients remain under medical supervision for 24 hours. Today the Russian mobile hospital will receive additional lots of cargo, all the medicines and dressings necessary for its work for at least 2 more weeks. Where all transportation systems are destroyed, Russian helicopters deliver up to 20 tons of cargo at a time. Russian rescue teams are also due to eliminate the flood threat in the region.
Let All our Children be Happy! (Soviet-era poster)
An orphanage run by an Orthodox parish in a suburb of Moscow celebrated International Children’s Day, which comes next Sunday, with a charity event, sponsored by the Moscow Patriarchate and the Voice of Russia radio company. The orphanage of the parish of St Nikita the Martyr opened fifteen years ago and has since blessed dozens of hard-pressed children with what makes a family, loving and caring relatives. Although each orphan has a sad story to tell, and no one boasts a happy past, they have little to worry about at present, and can look forward to a happy future.
Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsa and Kolomna is one of those who attended today’s charity event. He feels that “the Church cannot afford to ignore the problems of the upbringing and spiritual education of its congregation. It is a sad thing to happen when parents care nothing about their offspring. There is not too much the Church can do about that, but, it tries, to the best of its abilities, to take care of the children. Here, this wonderful priest, Fr Amvrosy, entered the story with his orphanage in the village of Byvalino, where he takes care of children and educates them on behalf of the Church. The children live the way they would live in a family of Orthodox believers. On the one hand, they receive a taste of Church traditions and Church education; on the other, they feel part of a family”.
Diana Berlin, a deputy to the chief executive officer of Voice of Russia, expects this sort of event to be held on a regular basis. She said, “What children need first of all is a personal example, and confidence in their ability to brave all the hardships on the road to their goals. Kids have to feel part of a nation, part of a loving family. They have to feel that others are not indifferent to them”. In Ms Berlin’s view, “This is essential from the children’s and everyone’s point of view. Interest in their fate holds out to them a ray of hope and allows them to believe they do not stand alone in this enormous world which is so full of very different and occasionally unpleasant happenings and troubles”.
This interest should, of course, be heartfelt, and Ms Berlin hopes the Byvalino orphans have already sensed it comes straight from the heart because it is not the first Voice of Russia visit to their orphanage. Ms Berlin finds these children great, intelligent, and very nice. She dislikes the word “orphanage” because these children have found a real home. She hopes today’s gifts make them happy and are used to their best advantage. She thanks that a candy store and a chain of discount clothing outlets provided the kids with fantastic things, fashionable clothing and candy. “Happy smiles and the shining eyes of young children are the most beautiful things to see”.
The St Nikita Orthodox Orphanage gives its charges a good chance to grow up to be useful to society and prove intelligent and talented people. Loving care and attention are things that a young child needs more than anything else. Lada Korotun of the Voice of Russia hopes that happy smiles keep illuminating the orphans’ faces on special occasions, and on every day of the week.
Lada Korotun 
Voices from Russia 
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