Abi Gezunt and football: how Sandler and friends 35 years cement the soul

The evening at the Igor Sandler Production Center became not just the anniversary of Starko, but a real Yiddish feast of memory, humor and friendship, where every joke is like matza on Passover: simple, but with history, and every toast is like a musician’s pension: modest, but from the heart.

The general tone of the evening, despite the autumn thunderstorm on the street of evening Moscow, was warm, nostalgic, with elements of humor and sincere emotions, and the focus was on friendship, music, sports and the memory of those who were part of this path.

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Sandler, as a true maestro and a person who back in the 70s ran a ball with Bari Alibasov and Yura Loza, and then, without betraying himself, became a producer, organizer and, forgive me for the pun, the spiritual rabbi of the musical movement, greeted guests with a trademark smile and the same look in which it reads: “I saw everything, but I do not cease to be surprised.” His baldness, once polished for the stage to shine and decorated with chocolate foil (for Integral to be noticed even in the darkest halls), now shone in the light of the spotlights of the Sandler Center, where the closed presentation of the video “Live on”. And if someone thought that this was just another anniversary, he was wrong: it was an evening when the past and the future met on the same stage, and neural networks revived the departed artists so that they again sang together with the living.

There was an atmosphere in the hall in which jokes about pensions sounded not as a complaint, but as a challenge to fate. Mikhail Muromov, remembering his first match and pulled ankle, proudly noted that no striker passed him, and Valery Yarushin, like an ancient sage, reminded: “No artificial intelligence will replace the human soul – even if he knows how to sing and run around the field.” Old songs live because they have us, not just algorithms.

The video “Live on” is a chronicle of the era, where 36 artists recorded the track, and 48 media people gathered in the frame to prove that unity is not an empty sound. The idea of the clip belongs to Yuri Davydov, and in spirit the project echoes the legendary “Closing the Circle”. Only now the circle has become even wider: there was a place in it for those who left, but remained in memory – neural networks “revived” Viktor Reznikov, Alexander Barykin, Alexander Gradsky and others, so that they again sang together with friends. If Moses had the technology, the exodus from Egypt would have been much more spectacular.

How it all started: Abi Gezunt and football mornings

- Yura, remember how in the 70s Bari Alibasov and Yura Loza and I used to chase the ball in the morning? - recalled Igor Sandler, opening the evening. We said on tour, ‘Let’s play football in the morning.’ In those years, when there was tea for breakfast without cholesterol, and for dinner there was hope for a sold-out, musicians were going to play football to forget about the troubles. "Az man muse, ken man" - when necessary, we can, winked Sandler. And after all, they could: run the ball, write songs, and even argue, which of them is more like Pele, and which is more like Sholom Aleichem with a guitar.

- In 1991, there were two significant events in the country ... – continued the story of Davydov, and the hall was quiet, as on the eve of the Sabbath.

- Who would have thought that on the day of the State Emergency Committee, when the country stood on its ears, and the musicians would come out on the field and start a new tradition.

“A good word finds its place,” Sandler added, and the word was “Starco.”.

The magic of the number 42: “A bisl un a bisl” and the moment of triumph

- I lived all my life in the 42nd apartment in the city of Saratov, Sandler recalled getting a shirt of the Starko club with the number 42. I graduated from the 42nd English School. 42 is a cult figure... There were 42 kings in Judaism. I have my passport number 42... It’s a number that mystically haunts me my entire life, Sandler said. After 35 years, he was given a shirt with a number. 42 and the title of honorary veteran "Starko". Sandler said, I’ve been waiting 35 years for this to happen.

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Aphorisms of the evening: “You must live, even if you die” and “We can be silent with them”

The evening was full of aphorisms, like grandmother's chest - family heirlooms.

- You need to live, even if you die, Davydov quoted a key phrase from the song “Live on”, donated by Andrei Gorin. These are not just words, they are our anthem.

- We can be silent with them, Sandler quietly added, looking at the screen where neural networks revived departed friends: Reznikov, Barykin, Gradsky. Abi Gezunt, may the memory be bright.

- You are a great force, without you there would be neither Starko nor this evening.

The audience laughed, recalled, argued who got more injuries on the field, and who – on stage. Sandler's baldness shone like traditions that don't fade even in the age of artificial intelligence.

The culmination of the anniversary celebrations will be the concert “Live on” – it will be held on November 7 in the Kremlin Palace. Dmitry Malikov, Vladimir Presnyakov, the group Uma2rman, Mikhail Boyarsky, Valery Syutkin, Igor Butman and many other stars whose names are known throughout the country will appear on the stage.