ABSTRACT
The cultural program of the Sochi Olympic Games of 2014 can be seen as offering just another manifestation of the notable role given to culture and Russian classical arts in the construction of the contemporary Russian national identity. In this chapter I claim that in the context of current Kremlin politics, the enormous allRussian children choir conducted by the leading Russian classical music conductor Valeri Gergiev (b. 1953) in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games was hardly meant to symbolise the echo of the past Soviet culture, but rather it functioned as a demonstration in front of the global audience that the new generation of Russians are and will be continuing ‘unanimously’ the great national heritage in the modern post-communist era. Soon after the Olympic Games the member of All-Russian Social and Cultural Project Alliance Supporting the Initiatives of Patronage of Art (APMI)1 Elena Shchapova (b. 1971) produced an article for the European Choral Association ECA. She writes that Sochi caused positive changes not just in sports but also in Russian culture: ‘Today, Russia overcame the difficult time of the country’s transition to a new economic path, and revives traditions of massed children’s singing again’ (Shchapova 2014, 1-2). According to her, Russian leaders are ‘praising the advantages that vocal choir traditions have for the ethical and social values of Russian culture and are ready to support mass choir education’ (Shchapova 2014, 4). She quotes Gergiev, the member of All-Russian Choral Society 2 and Presidential Council for Culture and Art (PCCA): ‘I am more and more thought about how to help young people and children not to go away from music, but come to her’ (Shchapova 2014, 5).
