Wassily Kandinsky - The Darkest Hour 2012 - Daniel Silva - Alfred Schnittke - Mstislav Rostropovich - Luke Harding - John Updike - Konstantin Batyushkov - Misha Glenny - Spitting Image TV - World’s Busiest Cities TV - Simon Reeve TV - Play for Today: Traitor TV -
The sun melts all of Moscow down to a single spot that, like a mad tuba, starts all of the heart and all of the soul vibrating. But no, this uniformity of red is not the most beautiful hour. It is only the final chord of a symphony that takes every colour to the zenith of life that, like the fortissimo of a great orchestra, is both compelled and allowed by Moscow to ring out. Wassily Kandinsky
He says they microwaved Moscow, burned everything out. The Darkest Hour 2012 starring Emile Hirsch & Olivia Thirlby & Max Minghella & Rachael Taylor & Joel Kinnaman & Gosha Kutsenko & Veronika Vernadskaya et al, director Chris Gorak, bird
I absolutely fell in love with Moscow. It’s one of those places where you can’t help but trip over history at every turn. It’s a city of enormous contradictions. Within a few yards of Lenin's Tomb is some of the most expensive shopping in the world. Daniel Silva
I would wake up in Moscow or somewhere else, my heart beating fast, feeling bitter and helpless. Alfred Schnittke
The war years were the most difficult time of my life. There was real famine in Moscow. The water froze inside the houses. There was no heat. Mstislav Rostropovich
There is a long dishonourable tradition of western intellectuals who have been duped by Moscow. The list includes Bernard Shaw, the Webbs, H G Wells, and Andre Gide. Luke Harding
One does not go to Moscow to get fat. John Updike
Here are luxury and penury, abundance and the most extreme deprivation, piety and atheism ... and an unbelievable frivolity – warring elements which, out of their constant conflicts, create this marvellous, outrageous, gigantic whole which we know by its collective name: Moscow. Konstantin Batyushkov
In two years Moscow had been transformed into a breathtaking Babylon of guns, enterprise, money, violence and fun. Misha Glenny, McMafia
This simple triangular conspiracy between oligarchs, bureaucrats and organised crime was happily concealed from most by the intense drama being acted out upon the streets of Moscow and other major cities: unbridled sexual activity, outrageous displays of wealth, and impenetrable political intrigues. Above all, it was hidden by the outbreak of violent mob wars. ibid.
One of the most violent and feared groups to emerge in Moscow and elsewhere was the Chechen mafia ... ‘The Chechen mafia became a brand name, a franchise, a McMafia, if you like,’ explained Mark Galeotti. ibid.
Paradoxically, if you were not involved in business or the protection industry, you were much safer on the streets of Moscow than in most other major cities. ibid.
There were about twenty major gangs in Moscow and dozens of minor gangs, some of them Slav and others Caucasian. ibid.
The Slav-Caucasian War that engulfed Moscow for about two years from 1992 ... lay the predictable motive of economic interest. ibid.
The Solntsevo empire grew. From car showrooms and bars, it expanded into hotels and supermarkets. It also controlled three major markets in the centre of Moscow, and at least three major railway stations. ibid.
The move into banking brought Solntsevo and the top criminal syndicates still closer to the oligarchs. ibid.
It gives me great pleasure to declare the Moscow branch of Spud-U-Like officially open. Spitting Image s8e2, ITV 1990
Capital of Russia and megacity forged by power and politics. World’s Busiest Cities s1e3: Moscow, BBC 2017
Home to nearly 13,000,000 people. Three-quarters of Moscovites, that’s 9,000,000 people, use the Moscow Metro every day. ibid.
Traffic here is so bad. ibid.
Moscow: It’s more beautiful than I’d imagined. A sense of power … A megacity: home to 12 million people. Russia with Simon Reeve III, BBC 2017
Watching the summit of mount Moscow: strip clubs on the left, brothels on the right. Filthy rotten dump. Play for Today: Traitor by Dennis Potter, Clive, BBC 1971