Mourners of the death of Russian culture, take heart. The patient is still kicking.
Granted, tabloids like "Scandal" and "Top Secret" have captured the minds of the teeming masses on the metro.
Yes, the overwhelming majority of films in St Petersburg are American action schlock films starring Sylvester Stallone.
Admittedly, legions of Russians are captivated by the decidedly unintellectual exploits of the characters on Santa Barbara, and Stephen King books outnumber Solzhenitsyn in the bookstores by several thousand to one.
Into the midst of this teetering temple of culture strides 12-year-old Petersburger Ilya Greengold, violin in hand.
With a nod to his accompanist, he places the violin beneath his smooth chin and proceeds to fill the room with a sweet, delicate melody.
His slender, boyish form sways slightly as his fingers fly with adult precision across the strings of the instrument.
His face, framed by thick, unruly reddish hair, is a picture of concentration and poise. At the conclusion of his piece, he bows his head slightly, bow tie askew, and slouches off stage looking once again like the young boy that he is.
This gifted young violinist is one of dozens of young musicians who performed at the Dec 27 gala opening of St Petersburg's third annual "Just Friends" Festival, running till Jan 10.
The festival will take place chiefly in the Akademicheskaya Capella at 20 Moika Embankment.
It is designed as a forum to allow promising young musicians both to share the stage with other young musicians in a non-competitive atmosphere, and to play and study with established classical musicians.
A number of international musicians have been invited to perform in the festival, among them Chinese pianist and conductor Fou Ts'Ong, US doublebassist Gary Karr, and US pianist William Grant Nabore.
These artists, along with Russian pianist Dmitri Bashkirov and Mary Lebenzon of the Novosibirsk Conservatory, will also conduct "creative laboratories" for the young musicians in connection with the festival.
If the opening gala is any indication, the festival has many treats in store for children and adults alike.
Billed as a "Colorful New Year's Carnival at the Hermitage Theater," the invitation-only event was a costume party for gifted musical students from St Petersburg, and included musical performances, a costume contest, a series of skits by the comedy troupe "Litsedei," and a visit from the venerable Father Frost himself, who for some reason was wandering around with a large bottle of 7up.
In fact, 7up was abundantly visible at the opening. A signpost on Russia's road to capitalism. During the break between the musical performances and "Litsedei," costumed children -- including an exceptionally convincing arab businessman and a musketeer with a floppy, befeathered hat -- filed out.
As they did, a very large and conspicuously jolly can of 7up scooted around the foyer nodding appreciatively.
It then participated in a marionette skit in which a trio of mules collapse from exhaustion. They are then revived by the magic liquid and resume their jerky marionette dance.
The poor mules were nearly taken out once again when several rapidly-striding men burst into the foyer.
Listening intently to their earpieces they escorted Mayor Sobchak into the theater for a television interview about the festival.
The mayor sat paternally among the flushed faces of several of the young musicians extolling the virtues of music in these uncertain times.
Behind the door to the foyer, delighted shrieks were heard as Father Frost chose the finalists for the costume contest.
Not all of the festival's performances will include young musicians.
Fou Ts'Ong, an internationally renowned pianist who fled China in 1958, just a few years before his parents were killed during the Cultural Revolution, will perform a solo piano recital on Jan 8, and Gary Karr will perform with his piano accompanist Harmon Lewis on Jan 9.
Highlights of youth performances during the festival include the "Young Musicians from St Petersburg and Siberia" concerts on Jan 3 at 7 pm and Jan 8 at 2 pm, and a performance of Bottesini's "Grand Duet" by Gary Karr and Anton Barakhovsky, a promising young Russian violinist now studying in Hamburg.