The year 1937 was one of the most tragic in the entire Soviet
history. The Great Terror masterminded by Joseph Stalin had reached its
peak and it was against this macabre background that the country was preparing
to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1917 socialist revolution…
A string of anniversary music festivals were held in Moscow,
Leningrad and other big cities where Soviet composers were showcasing 300
new compositions each, striving to reflect the revolutionary drive and
glorify "the country of victorious socialism." Cantatas, odes
and songs were springing up like mushrooms after rain, all heaping praise
on the communist party and its leaders. Sergei Prokofyev, too, joined in
the fray, writing a grandiose Cantata for the twentieth anniversary of
the October Revolution to the authentic texts from the speeches and writings
of Lenin, Stalin and Marx.
Finding the quotations by the omniscient Communist leaders not
inspiring enough, Prokofyev decided to compensate the missing zest with
an unusual sonic effect by scoring the Cantata for orchestra, military
band, two choruses, a whole orchestra of accordionists and special effects.
Hard as Prokofyev tried to make his composition understandable
to the people, it never was and, as if excusing himself for this lack of
simplicity, he had this to say in an interview published by the authoritative
newspaper Pravda:
"The complexity of the events unfolding here necessitated
the use of an equally complex musical language, but I do hope that its
impetuousness and sincerity will be able to get it across to the listeners'
hearts…"
Prokofyev's hope never came true, though. Always happy to be
on the safe side, the big shots at the Soviet Composer's Union didn't have
the heart to include the Cantata in the program of the anniversary concerts
and it wasn't until 29 years later that it finally saw daylight, when the
composer had long been dead…
Meanwhile, Dmitry Shostakovich was putting the finishing touches
to his Fifth Symphony. It was already scheduled to premiere at the Grand
Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic when last minute problems with the orchestra
threw the whole project in doubt…
Up until then, the Leningrad Philharmonic orchestra had been
led by the prominent Austrian conductor Fritz Schtidrie. He was among the
first foreign musicians to come to perform in post-Revolutionary Russia
and, inspired by the Bolsheviks' far-reaching plans to reform the country,
agreed to stay on and work here. Now, the Soviet government was telling
Schtidrie and other foreigners either to take Soviet citizenship and stay
for good or pack up and leave the country. Faced with the painful dilemma,
the Austrian hesitantly opted to part with the first-class Russian orchestra
and go, leaving the musicians high and dry without a conductor.
To fill the yawning gap left by Schtidrie's departure, the management
of the Leningrad Philharmonic invited a young and little-known conductor,
Yevgeny Mravinsky, from the Kirov Opera to lead the premiere of Shostakovich's
new work. Mravinsky did an excellent job figuring out the difficult score.
The Fifth Symphony's premiere on November 21 marked the beginning of a
long and fruitful partnership between Shostakovich and Mravinsky which
lasted for 38 years, up until the composer's death in 1975…
The Fifth Symphony provoked bursts of enthusiasm in the press.
The success was dramatic and professional critics and fellow composers
all wrote glowing reviews extolling the power of the new symphony. The
more politically-minded critics welcomed the liberation of the composer
"from the fetters of musical formalism" and the triumphant intonations
which were so consonant with the party line. People with a deeper insight,
however, saw hiding behind the emotionally-charged chord changes, a very
different meaning. A man of genius, Shostakovich painted a tell-all musical
picture of an epoch ruled supreme by a totalitarian machine able to crush
anyone who dares to speak his mind…
The Fifth Symphony has since been widely performed by the world's
greatest orchestras and conductors...
In October they were holding another national competition for
young musicians which had brought together young violinists and cellists
from all across the country. From day one, the 14 year-old Daniyil Shafran
from the music school under the Leningrad Conservatory, emerged as a hands
down leader and also as the youngest participant in the 1937 competition.
"Never before have we heard such singing cello sounds, such
a lavish combination of amazing colors," raved a review published
in the Izvestiya newspaper. "It's hard to believe that all these sounds
are being extracted by this skinny little boy…"
What was even more surprising, was that the young musician was
playing a regular, off-the-wall, mass-production instrument. It was only
after his victory in the competition that they allowed him to play a unique
cello made by the great Italian luthier Niccolo Amati from the State Collection
of Musical Instruments. Playing that state-of-the-art cello, Daniyil Shafran
triumphed at two major international competitions and kept playing it until
the very last day of his life…
The competitions held in 1937 propelled many young Russian prodigies
to stardom. The 24 year-old Yakov Zak and the 17 year-old Roza Tamarkina
won the first two prizes at the prestigious Chopin competition in Warsaw.
Yakov Zak's interpretations of Chopin's miniatures were a striking combination
of romanticism and deep thought…
A conservatory student from Moscow, Roza Tamarkina offered a
very different playing manner that was invigorating, hard driving and bubbling
with energy… Roza Tamarkina's untimely death nipped in the bud what might
have unfolded into a brilliant international career…
The Soviet violinists scored a major victory at the Eugene Izai
competition in Brussels. They brought the house down bowing out with a
staggering five top awards! The Belgian critic Paul Tinel gave this glowing
review in the newspaper Soir:
"The Soviet violinists conquered everyone's heart the very
first moment they came out on stage. They owe their exceptional performance
here to their excellent technique and outstanding talent…"
David Oistrakh was named the competition's best player. It was
the start of a long and triumphal career of one of the world's finest fiddlers…
Another highlight of the Brussels competition was the 16 year-old
Soviet violinist Mikhail Fikhtengolts who literally captivated the jury
with his refined musicality…
In the fall of 1937, the Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble led
by Alexander Alexandrov was making its first tour abroad. Starting off
in Czechoslovakia, they moved on to France performing several sold-out
nights at Paris' giant Pleyel concert hall. Surprised by this huge success,
the newspaper Orore wrote that "the triumph the Russian military ensemble
is enjoying here by far surpasses the welcome which has ever been accorded
to our best-loved virtuosos…"
In the same year of 1937, Alexandrov's composer son, Boris, wrote
his first major piece, the musical comedy The Wedding in Malinovka which
was immediately staged in Moscow and was later produced elsewhere in the
country .
THE RUSSIAN MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 20TH
CENTURY is prepared for you by Olga Fyodorova.
