On the centenary of Lenin's birth this film looks at Leningrad in terms of the creative artists who have made their home in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe: Chaliapin and Pavlova; Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, and Shostakovich; Gogol, Pushkin, and Mayakovsky. It also meets some of the city's young artists: a ballet dancer, a pianist, a poet, an acrobat troupe in the circus, a film actress, a sculptor.
Despite the tensions of different political systems, it is still possible to admire the constant beauty of Leningrad and the continuing tradition of her artists.
Poem of Mayakovsky read by Ian McKellen.
Narrator: Denis Pitts.

(Produced with the co-operation of the Novosti Press Agency, and presented by the BBC and Bavarian Television)
(Imagine Venice under snow: page 12)
(Colour)