Music & musicians through the eyes of Soviet photographers (PHOTOS)

Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff driving his yacht ‘Senar’ on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, 1939

Aram Khachaturian’s ballet ‘Gayane’ on the stage of Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theater in the Armenian SSR. The dance with sabers is performed by ballet dancers V. Khachaturian and E. Araratova, 1944

Conductor Ariy Pazovsky, 1940s

Composer Igor Stravinsky in the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, 1962 

Composer Sergei Prokofiev with his wife Mira Mendelssohn, 1946

Violinist Yehudi Menuhin rehearsing before a concert on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the United Nations in Paris, 1958

Pianist Van Cliburn performing at the First International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, 1958 

Opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya with her kids, 1959

Composer Dmitry Shostakovich with his wife Irina Shostakovich, 1972

‘Lezginka’ State Folk Dance Ensemble of Dagestan performing a choreographic composition, called ‘Untsukuls’, 1973 

Composer Rodion Shchedrin and ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, 1978

Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet ‘Romeo and Juliet’ staged by the Bolshoi Theater. Scene from ‘Capuletti's Ball’, 1995-1999

Rehearsal for the gala concert on the Red Square dedicated to the opening of the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia (pianist Denis Matsuev at the piano, center, opera stars Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov on the left).

Vladimir Volkov performing at the Volkov Manifest Jazz Festival, 2024

The ‘Objective About Music’ photo exhibition will be on display at the Russian National Museum of Music in Moscow from March 13 to June 8, 2025.