On May 5, the Russian House in Brussels hosted a classical music concert titled “Music of Memory,” dedicated to the celebration of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War. Young musicians from Russia and Italy, лаureates of numerous international competitions, performed on stage.

The evening was opened by the Director of the Russian House, Vera Bunina, who presented a historical overview of the role of music during the Great Patriotic War.

“Music performed today by young virtuosos was also heard during the war — it brought Victory closer and helped people preserve their humanity. Even in the harshest winter of the Siege of Leningrad, when bread rations were minimal and the city was under constant shelling, works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Brahms, and Wagner continued to be performed. Surviving posters from that time are vivid evidence of the strength of spirit and the greatness of the human soul. It is to this greatness that we dedicate today’s concert.”

The program brought together works from different eras and styles by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Enrique Granados, Franz Liszt, Alexander Scriabin, and Sergei Prokofiev. Special attention was given to Prokofiev, whose compositions became an artistic response to the heroism of wartime.

The concert featured young performers already recognized on the international stage: violinist Agnia Vyatkina, pianists Anastasia Magamedova, Anatoly Bogdanov, Vladimir Bondar, Polina Eremkina, and Italian musician Gabriele Gioima.

The memory of the past resonated through the interpretations of a new generation, for whom music becomes a living language of historical memory and cultural continuity.