Midnight in Moscow
| "Moscow Nights" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi & Mikhail Matusovsky | |
| Released | 1955 |
"Moscow Nights" (Russian: Подмосковные вечера, tr. Podmoskovnie vechera) is a Russian song, one of those best known outside its homeland.
The song was originally created as "Leningradskie Vechera" ("Leningrad Nights") by composer Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi and poet Mikhail Matusovsky in 1955 (when both had well-established careers), but at the request of the Soviet Ministry of Culture, the "Подмосковные вечера" (transliterated as "Podmoskovnye Vechera"; more or less "Evenings in the Moscow Suburb") version was prepared, with corresponding changes to the lyrics.
In 1956, Podmoskovnye Vechera was recorded by Vladimir Troshin, a young actor of the Moscow Art Theatre, for a documentary about the athletic competition Spartakiad of the Peoples of the RSFSR, for a scene where the participants rest in Podmoskovye, the Moscow suburbs. It went little noticed in the context of the film, but gained considerably popularity thanks to radio broadcasts.
In 1957, the song won both the international song contest and the first prize at the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students held in Moscow, quite to the surprise of its creators. The song spread around the world, achieving particular popularity in mainland China; Van Cliburn's 1958 piano performance of the tune contributed to this international spread.
The British jazz group, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, had a hit with the song in 1961 under the title "Midnight in Moscow". This version peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in January 1962 and also reached number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in March that year, while it spent three weeks at number one on the American Easy Listening chart.
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