By Nina Yajontova April 1st marked 125 years since the birth of the
great Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff. "I
write the music which I hear playing inside me, he wrote. "I am a
Russian composer, therefore my temperament, outlook and music are quintessentially
Russian..." With the appearance of his more mature compositions in
the early 1900s, Rachmaninoff built himself a strong following among Russia's
cultural elite. His individuality was shaped at the time of a growing political
and cultural upsurge in Russia, a time which spawned such artistic giants
as the great opera singer Fyodor Chaliapine who was a very close friend
of Rachmaninoff's.
They first met each other at Savva Mamontov's Private Opera in Moscow
and the two men continued their friendship working together at the Bolshoi
Theater where Rachmaninoff had been invited to work as a conductor. Sergei
Rachmaninoff's genius was immediately visible no matter what he did, but
his talen shined the brightest as a pianist playing a number of sold-out
concerts both in Russia and abroad. In one of the many books about Rachmaninoff,
we read about the famed pianist Artur Rubinstein being asked to name his
choice for the best pianist around. "Horowitz, he said, "Yes,
Horowitz is the best..." "And what about Rachmaninoff?"
As if remembering something, Rubinstein said: "No, you're talking
about pianists, but Rachmaninoff is something absolutely different"
and, raising his hands into the air, he looked up...
Sergei Rachmaninoff left behind a huge number of piano concertos, etudes,
sonatas, variations and, finally, the world-famous Rapsody on a theme by
Paganini for piano and orchestra.
Born April 1st, 1873 on an estate at Oneg near the northwestern city
of Novgorod, Sergei Rachmaninoff belonged to a family of old Russian aristocrats
that featured, among others, a well-known writer and translator of Voltaire,
a prominent scholar, a gifted composer and a pianist. Rachmaninoff was
a man of many talents always fascinated with everything new in art and
other, more mundane spheres of life. He was one of Russia's first motorists
and, in his Ivanovka country estate near Tambov in central Russia, he delved
into the art of farming, trying to make life easier for the peasants and
he even invented a simple albeit effective grass mowing machine. There,
living amid the vast Russian valleys and meadows, he draw inspiration writing
his famous Piano Concerto N.3 in D minor, a motley of romances and other
compositions.
In 1891 Rachmaninoff graduated cum laude from the Moscow Conservatory
and his name was later written down in gold letters on a memorial plaque
that still graces the Conservatory's front wall. There he studied piano
playing with Zverev and Ziloti and composition with Taneyev and Arensky.
His teachers were absolutely amazed by his wonderful memory because he
only had to look at the sheet music once to be able to play the piece by
heart. As his graduation work he played Aleko, the first of the three operas
he ever wrote.
Soon after the 1917 socialist revolution, the composer and his family
emigrated to Europe and then to the United States where he performed extensively
as a pianist and conductor, but wrote much less music as if life outside
Russia had killed the composer in him. And still, Rachmaninoff closely
followed everything that was happening back in the Soviet Union. During
World War Two he contributed to the Soviet Embassy the proceeds some of
his concerts accompanying the considerable sum of money with a note that
read as follows: "From a Russian as a contribution in the ongoing
struggle with the enemy. I want to believe and I do believe that the final
victory will be ours".
Sergei Rachmaninoff still stands alone as a genius whose personality,
depth and significance we have yet to appreciate. To do this, they are
now rebuilding his museum and country estate in Ivanovka, opening international
skills upgrading courses for pianists in Tambov, publishing catalogues
of his works, turning out his records and holding international Rachmaninoff
festivals in Moscow.
"I don't know a single contest in Russia or anywhere else in the
world which has done as much justice to Rachmaninoff's music as this one",
says Viktor Merzhanov, the man who chairs the contest's jury and is the
event's chief organiser. "I don't know how my colleagues feel, but
I feel myself in a church the very moment his music starts to play..."
Rachmaninoff was a very fine composer of church music and was a good
expert on old Russian religious chants. A recently published detailed catalogue
of his works includes two major church compositions, like the Versper Mass
for Boys' and Men's Voices and the Liturgy of St.John Chrysostomus for
mixed choirs.
In his memoires, the famous sculptor Sergei Konenkov provides an illuminating
description of the great composer: "Rachmaninoff's face was a sculptor's
dream. It was so simple and, at the same time, so absolutely unique and
inimitable... There are faces in our life that you just see once and never
forget as long as you live..."
Sergei Rachmaninoff was a tall man and always had to lower his head
a bit whenever he entered the room. His voice was a bit hushed and low
and his hands were big but very soft and tender. He moved around quietly,
without haste and he never ever raised his voice. He had regular features,
a wide, protruding forehead, an elongated and bit crooked nose and a pair
of deep, shining eyes. His face change dramatically, however, when he laughed
and his laugh was so expressive and sincere..."
The great musician's looks have rubbed off on his grandson Alexander,
the son of his younger daughter Tatyana, the man who inherited Rachmaninoff's
personal archives, handwritten music and letters. A permanent resident
of Switzerland, Alexander Rachmaninoff-Conus often comes to Russia where
he helps organize various music contests bearing the name of his outstanding
grandfather.
"And this is the best politics you can think of," Alexender
says. "because you can shake so many hands and make so many new friends
in high places. It's a good politics. We have set up an international Rachmaninoff
association and we hold one festival each year, in Lucerne, Berlin, Paris,
London, New York... And, of course, in Moscow. Festivals, contests, concerts...
More and more people in Russia are now waking up to the legacy left behind
by one of this country's greatest musicians.
MOSCOW ART THEATRE. ANTON CHEKHOV.
(the 3rd International Theatre Festival
in Moscow)"
A report filed by Olga Rusanova.
As if answering the call "to Moscow, to Moscow !" by characters
of The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, theatre companies and theatre-lovers
from around the world are in the Russian capital at the moment for the
3rd International Chekhov Theatre Festival which started on March the 26th.
Despite its relatively young age, the Chekhov Festival has gained tremendous
prestige in the global theatrical community. The first such festival in
1992 attracted a brilliant assemblage of theatre directors which included
Otomar Kreichi , Temur Chkheidze, Andrey Shcherban, and, most notably,
Peter Stein, whose colourful innovative production of The Cherry Orchard
came as something of a bombshell at the time presenting Anton Chekhov as
interpreted by a powerfully gifted non-Russian.
For the 2nd festival in 1996, more celebrities flocked in, including
Peter Brooke, Giorgio Strele , Eimuntas Niakroshus and Declan Donnelan.
All brought new productions of Chekhov's plays. Peter Stein, who was again
very much in evidence, unveiled a sparkling stage version of Chekhov's
Uncle Vanya. He said it is a must for every theatre director to make a
recourse to the legacy of Anton Chekhov at least once in five years. Chekhov
inspires vigour and stamina. He requires perfect enacting and, which is
much more, concentration on the meaning of human existence in this world.
This time round Peter Stein is here again, not as a director, but as
a lecturer on Chekhov. Those who came as directors brought 51 productions
by theatre companies in 21 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The guest list carries such names as Robert Brustein, Ariana Mnouchkine,
Bob Wilson, Christoff Marthaler and Tadashi Suzuki. The domestic participants
include Lev Dodin, Mark Zakharov, Valeri Fokin and Anatoli Vasilyev. Connoisseurs
expect powerful debuts by young directors from Brazil, France and outlying
regions in Russia.
The American Repertoire Theatre from Boston is making its first appearance
in Moscow.
The current 3rd Chekhov Festival coincides with the centenary of the
Moscow Art Theatre Company. Founded by the turn-of-the-century theatrical
gurus Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, the Art
Theatre provided casting and stage for the initial productions of a number
of Chekhov's plays.
Cultural Attache of the US Embassy in Moscow Rosmarie di Carlo says
it's a great honour for her country that the 3rd Chekhov Festival started
with a production by a theatre from the United States. By coming to Moscow,
the Boston Repertoire Theatre reciprocates American tours by two Moscow-based
companies, the Art Theatre and Sovremennik.
The Repertoire Theatre's appearance on the centenary of the Art Theatre
is a special tribute to Konstantin Stanislavski, a godlike figure for most
American actors, directors and dramatists. Remember, Stanislavski wrote
his famous book of memoirs My Life in Art on contract with publishers in
Boston, Mrs di Carlo says. The Repertoire Theatre's artistic director Robert
Brustein is an ardent follower of Stanislavski.
The Russian theatre director Mark Zakharov flatly dismisses suggestions
that holding a costly eleven-week theatre show is ill affordable at a time
when many of this country's public sector workers go without pay for months
on end. He says cultural values are beyond financial calculation. Sponsorship
of culture spells investment in the nation's future. Although intangible,
this can bring even more than direct investment in money-spinning industries.
A splendid closure is in store. On the closing day of the Festival
on June the 9th the Moscow Art Theatre will treat participants to a vintage
production of The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov.
SAVVA MAMONTOV
By Lyubov Tsarevskaya
Russian merchants have traditionally been famous for their charitable
ways which took a whole new dimension during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Without any exaggeration we can say that Russian culture would
never have really happened had it not been for the support given it by
all these big-hearted men of business. Was it because our moneybags were
more generous then their colleagues in the west? The thing is that most
of those Russian merchants were very religious people always trying to
follow the Biblical commandment which says: He who dressed the naked, fed
the hungry and visited the jail, dressed Me, fed Me and visited Me".
Eager to secure for themselves a place in paradise, the merchants were
going out of their way helping the needy in their earthly life... It is
from this deep-lying spiritual nature of the Russian people that stem the
ethics of the Russian business and such a unique phenomenon as charity
and sponsorship of the arts. The rich early-20th century industrialist
Savva Mamontov was one such patron of the beautiful...
People called him a Maecenas and with a good reason too. Like Gaius
Cilnius Maecenas, the munificent Roman statesman and patron of letters,
Savva Mamontov always helped artists and poets and in his country estate
in Abramtsevo he organised an artistic club attended by almost every single
leading Russian painter, sculptor and architect. The main reason why Savva
Mamontov was so much respected by the Russian artistic community, however,
was that he was a good singer himself /he studied singing in Italy/, composed
music, was a sculptor and wrote his own poems and plays. His artistic efforts
culminated in the opening of the Russian Opera Theater which gave a tremendous
boost to the advancement of Russian music. The theater played exclusively
Russian operas and it was there that many compositions by Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Glinka and others had their premiers and later won international recognition.
The Private Opera always played to full houses which, besides the high
quality of its productions, was also explained by the fact that tickets
there were much cheaper than anywhere else. This fact was certainly not
lost on the music critics who praised the theater's owner to give the less
affluent Muscovites a chance to enjoy, at an affordable price, the very
best Russian and world opera productions.
Savva Mamontov also deserves praise for his discovery of the great
Russian opera singer Fyodor Chaliapine.
The first time Mamontov heard Chaliapine's singing was in the winter
of 1984 and was immediately impressed by the then unknown singer's voice.
Two years later Mamontov invited the young bass to join the Private Opera's
performances during the All-Russian Industrial exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod.
The exposition opened with Mikhail Glinka's Life for the Czar opera which
became a real triumph for the young Fyodor Chaliapine. The enthusiastic
audience kept calling him out over and over again... Mamontov not only
discovered Chaliapine but he also helped him become a great stage personality.
Remembering the start of his brilliant career many years later, Chaliapine
thus described his ontime patron: "I was only 23 years old then, a
real green horn and when they were introducing me to Mamontov and told
me he was a famous art sponsor, at first I didn't know what it was all
about. Neither did I realize the great role this wonderful man would play
in my life. Believe me, it was Mamontov who taught me to work as hard on
my material as I am working now... I don't think I would have ever become
what I am without Savva...
Personal wealth never really meant much to Savva Mamontov. "I
was a rich man, that's true, he wrote in his diary, "but I gave it
all out believing that money is for the people and not people for the money.
Who needs money when there is no life?"
Money cannot revive culture if it knows nothing about culture, this
truth rings especially true these days.
