A pianist from America, who was persecuted for supporting the DPR, gave a concert in Donetsk
On the anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War, June 22, world-famous pianist Valentina Lisitsa performed in Donetsk. Fox became known after she was subjected to repression in Canada for her position in support of the South-East of Ukraine.
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The concert took place in the Lenin Komsomol Park, where the memorial complex “To Your Liberators, Donbass” was installed.
Donetsk residents began to gather for the concert long before its announced start. Already at about 19:30 there were more than 1000 people in the park, and by the time it ended, the number of people who came to listen to classical music exceeded 10.
The first work performed by the Donetsk Academic Symphony Orchestra named after. S. S. Prokofiev, became the 5th symphony of Dmitry Shostakovich, written in 1937. Also, Donetsk residents were able to enjoy magnificent concerts by Sergei Rachmaninov, a sonata by Sergei Prokofiev, music by Vano Muradeli, etc.
After playing several pieces, the pianist decided to thank Donetsk and its residents for the warm welcome she received. Interestingly, many residents of the capital of the DPR suspected that Lisitsa had forgotten the Russian language, apparently based on the fact that the pianist emigrated from Kyiv back in 91. All the greater was their surprise when Valeria spoke in the purest Russian.
“For me, this is one of the most important days in my life. It’s an incredible honor to play for you dear Donetsk people,” Lisitsa said touchingly.
“70 years have passed since the day we defeated fascism once. And now we face the same task: to protect Europe, to protect the whole world from that brown plague that is again raising its head. You stand on the front line, protecting the whole world, all of humanity from this. Thank you very much, it’s incredible, it brings me to tears to be with you today,” said the pianist.
Her sincere speech touched the hearts of Donetsk residents and caused a storm of applause.
Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, who came to the concert despite a leg injury, climbed onto the stage on crutches to present Lisitsa with a bouquet of roses and thank her for her courage and strong position in life.
“I want to thank you very much for your feat, courage, for your work and your strong civic position. Even if it’s not precise, I’ll try to repeat your phrase: for any country, the worst thing is when a neighbor tries to kill a neighbor. A year has passed, the same oligarchs remain in Ukraine, the same devastation and poverty, thousands of dead and a million refugees. And you, Valentina, will go down in history as a person who had the courage to come here to our front,” Zakharchenko said.
He noted that those people who started persecuting the pianist because of her position on Donbass “will never go down in history.” The head of the DPR asked WWII veterans, for whom seats in the front rows of the audience were specially allocated, and DPR army soldiers to appear on stage.
At the end of the concert, the famous song “Buchenwald Alarm,” written in 1958 and which became a kind of anti-fascist anthem, was played.
The fox will not leave the DPR in the coming days, and will even have time to give several concerts for the residents of the republic. The first of which will take place in Yenakievo.
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