Penza, 4 July 2015. PenzaNews. The “Tarkhany” State Museum-Reserve located in the Belinsky area of the Penza region is holding the 44th Lermontov poetry festival on Saturday, July 4. The event involves such personalities as Iosif Kobzon, People’s Artist of the Soviet Union, State Duma deputy; Aristarkh Livanov, People’s Artist of Russia; Andrei Sokolov, Distinguished Artist of Russia; Andrei Dementyev, poet; Renat Ibragimov, singer; and Lyudmila Ryumina, People’s Artist of the RSFSR.

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The event is also attended by the acting governor of the Penza region Ivan Belozertsev, the acting chairman of the regional Legislative Assembly Valery Lidin, the head of Penza city Victor Kuvaytsev, and other officials.

The festival attracted people both from the Penza region and outside it.

Before the start, Tamara Melnikova, director of the “Tarkhany” Lermontov State Museum-Reserve, personally gave a guided tour through the museum center, that had been complete by the 200th anniversary of Mikhail Lermontov’s birth, for the honorary guests.

“Before us, Russia had no other exhibition center that would tell the biography of the poet in full. Picked them into pieces, as they say. They often speak of his life in Pyatigorsk, but when the kids come, you can’t help but want to tell them all about Lermontov’s life from start to finish,” she said.

In his reaction to this remark, Iosif Kobzon suggested to make it an obligatory topic in school education.

In return, Tamara Melnikova noted that making suggestions to improve the education courses in schools is a prerogative of the deputies in the State Duma.

“Iosif Davydovich, simply make a new program. We should study literature like that, and history and geography too. Or otherwise we’ll all believe that the shores of Belarus are good enough for a fleet,” said the director of the museum-reserve.

After the guided tour was finished, the visitors laid flowers and wreaths to the grave of Mikhail Lermontov, while Tamara Melnikova recalled the history of the poet’s reburial and his father to the visitors.

The guests of the event also saw the Church of Michael the Archangel that was reconstructed during the recent works in the estate, and the estate house itself.

After that, Aristarkh Livanov has led an official opening ceremony for the Lermontov poetry festival at the Zeleniy theater.

Iosif Kobzon was the first to perform to the audience who came to the Lermontov poetic festival.

“It is so nice to see you all in the Lermontov land. I am so pleased that you love Russia, love the poetry! You are the Fatherland, you are Russia! And when we come to ‘Tarkhany,’ we are proud to see that everyone has Lermontov,” the artist said.

Iosif Kobzon followed his speech by several songs, including a romance “Alone I Set Out on the Road” after a famous poem by Mikhail Lermontov sung in a duet with Aristarkh Livanov.

Afterwards, Ivan Belozertsev addressed the guests of the festival with a welcoming speech and thanked the famous artists to find time to come to “Tarkhany.”

“Lermontov’s art is a Russian legacy. Lermontov was a hero when he lived and created art, and he remains a hero of our time. And he will remain a hero in the future,” stressed the head of the region.

The next event in the schedule was a Lermontov Award ceremony.

Marina Kudemova, a writer, poet, translator and columnist; and Yuri Kuznetsov (pen-name Arbekov), a Penza poet and novelist, received the award in the category “For Achievements in Literary Art Recognized By the Public.”

Gennady Salkov and Vera Ulyanova, members of the artistic group for the exhibition project of the “Tarkhany” State Museum-Reserve, were named the winners of the category “For Contribution to the Cultural and Public Awareness Work in the Penza Region.”

The winners of the “Gifted Youth” award were Anna Postnova from the Belinsky area of the Penza region, for performing musical works after the poems of Mikhail Lermontov; and Alexander Tikhonov, a poet from Tara town of the Omsk region, for fostering the popularity of the poet’s works.

The concert performance was concluded by Iosif Kobzon who sang several songs on lyrics by Andrei Dementyev, such as “Cherniy Lebed,” a dedication to Vladimir Vysotsky, and “U Yesenina Den Rozhdenya.”