Singer and songwriter Boris Grebenshchikov, who leads Russia's most important band Aquarium, will play what promises to be a very special concert this week.
Last year 41-year-old Grebenshchikov, commonly known as BG in Russia, made a fresh attempt to win Western audiences.
But it was very different from the first time he tried to enter the international pop/rock arena in the late 1980s.
Then he was the most influential and popular rock musician in Russia and was offered a contract by CBS and released the "Radio Silence" album in 1989.
Sung in English and featuring Western musicians, including such stars as Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde and Ray Cooper, the recording produced by Dave Stewart targeted mostly mainstream rock audiences.
The record was widely publicized but not a huge success, he was later dropped by the company. In November 1994 Boris Grebenshchikov played at culturally renown 1,000-seat Theatre de la Ville in Paris.
Unlike previous Western tours of Russian rock musicians this event was free of any political overtones.
He did not represent "glasnost" or "perestroika," only himself and his music. And he sang only in Russian to Aquarium's soft folk-rock background.
The accompanying CD called "Boris Grebenchikov & Aquarium 1991-1994" encompasses the material written and performed since the "old" Aquarium split in 1991. It was released on the French indie label Buda Records, which specializes in world music and ethnic sounds, and has been distributed in about 20 countries.
In a strange way the impressions Grebenshchikov got in Paris inspired him to write a few songs, which are described as being "more in the Russian folk vein, less rock and roll."
Following two of Aquarium's dates in Yekaterinburg and Tyumen, Grebenshchikov will perform about 15 new songs on Wednesday. The show will be held in the 350-seat hall of the Lensoveta Palace of Culture.
Aquarium's spokesperson Stanislav Gagarinov said the concert will be small and intimate. "There's little advertising and no posters," he said.
Besides, the group will be billed not as "Aquarium," but as "BG Band." "These songs cannot be performed with Aquarium because they are very different both in their form and mood," said Gagarinov.
For the concert, Grebenshchikov who sings and plays guitar, will be backed by Aquarium's members Alexei Zubarev on guitar, Sergei Shchurakov on accordion and Oleg Sakmarov on flute.
The songs, which are collectively titled "Center of the Cyclone," are likely to make up Grebenshchikov's next album.
Meanwhile, both Aquarium's latest output "Kostroma Mon Amour" and the early 1980s tapes "Treugolnik" and "Taboo," which were officially released for the first time, are available on CDs from the city's music shops.