On St. Petersburg’s 300th anniversary of we probably would see the most famous light-and music show of the planet – the pyrotechnic show of Gert Hoff

The famous pyrotechnic designer Gerdt Hoff, who dedicated the past quarter of the century to professional fireworks, has visited St. Petersburg. Millions of people all over the world have seen Mr. Hoff’s light shows. He is the only designer, who managed to “light” the new millennium four times: in Berlin, Athens, Peking and Budapest. He made the show designs for his strict Teutonic fellow-countrymen, the Rammstein group. China has officially engaged Hoff for the 2008 Olympics. If all goes well, on May 31, 2003, St. Petersburg, too, will enjoy the magnificent sight of his lights.

Gert Hoff comes from Leipzig (German Democratic Republic, or Eastern Germany, as they call it now days). The dedication to rock music cost the young rebel a year-and-half in prison, where the guard in a paroxysm of rage, knocked out his right eye. Hence, the concepts of light and darkness became forever relevant for Gert. After graduation from the Theater College in Leipzig, Gert Hoff dedicated himself to theater stage for many years. He directed plays of Brecht, Schiller, and Shakespeare, accompanying them with cutting-edge local rock music, and every time got angry reprimands from the authorities. He cooperated with the Fashion Institute of the GDR, developing the fashion show scenarios. However, the theater and fashion world did not interest Hoff as much as music. “It’s the music, which is mother to everything”, says the artist. Another scandalous exhibition in 1990 nearly got him arrested and expelled from the country, at the time, when the Berlin wall was falling…

After that, followed series of intense collaborative projects with multiple European theaters and musicians. He does installations, performances, fireworks and laser shows for German artists’ exhibitions; charity concerts to help the victims of earthquakes in Greece and Turkey; participates in the industrial-mystic show “Ferropolis” – an artificial town next to Dessau (German Federative Republic), where he recreated the inheritance of the industrial epoch amongst the giant construction landscape and abandoned carrier excavators mixed with light and famous music by Greek composer, Mikis Teodorakis. His cooperation with cult rock group Rammstein has brought numerous MTV and Grammy awards and millions of followers from all over the world.

With his popular events, Gert Hoff has created the new form of open-air shows and multimedia installations. The music, pyrotechnic and neon art, illuminated air balloons, lasers and flood lights – the mixture of genre and technical media come together in one unique, majestic symphony.

St. Petersburg, first in Russia, has got a unique opportunity to see the incredible show, for instance, the underwater fireworks, on its own anniversary. The locations for this one-of-a-kind action are already determined: Peter-and-Paul fortress, Dvortsovy, Birzhevoy and Troitsky bridges, Neva embankments. The Russian classical music is planned to accompany the show.

But there exist certain difficulties in the realization of this project. First and foremost, are of course, the white nights – our pride and joy. The light skies will not work well for the effective light show; however the designer sees it as nature’s challenge and will try to give it an adequate response. Generally, the show lasts for four hours, but the emotional climax takes around forty minutes, for which Mr. Hoff will try to use the darkest time – between one and two in the morning. The rain wouldn’t obstruct the large-scale fireworks and flood lights, on the opposite – it could add a certain charm to them.

The separate issue is the electric energy. The total power for all the lighting would call for 200 mega watts. This is the amount of energy, used by a city, such as St. Petersburg, in three weeks. Gert Hoff promised to deliver the generator stations, otherwise the local electrical network could simply black out…

Finally, the most important issue – money. The cost of a similar show, by the estimates of the designer himself, ranges from 1 to 14 million dollars, which, for our anniversary budget, is an impossible sum; so all the hopes are for sponsors’ generosity. The sponsors’ names aren’t disclosed yet. But the German master is optimistic: "I think that I could show St. Petersburg’s beauty to the world, “lift” the architecture with lights and music. For we all strive to reach the heights– that’s what unites all of us”.