WORLD IS ABSURD AND PEOPLE ARE DULL
(60 years since the birth of writer Sergei Dovlatov)
Ye. Monich
On the 3d of this month prominent writer Sergei Dovlatov would have
been 60.
The Russian poet Yevgeny Rain believes that in Russian literature Sergei
Dovlatov holds a special place for which he paid a high price.
His life 
keynoted
with creative search and full of contradictions was rather short, he died
in 1990 at the age of 49. Short as it was his life can be divided into
two periods. Till the age of 37 Sergei Dovlatov lived in his native country,
the Soviet Union, and had to endure the pressure brought to bear on him
by his ideological opponents. They declared " as ideologically hostile
" everything that he wrote The second period of his life Sergei Dovlatov
spent in the United States where he became famous for his literary work.
All his life Sergei Dovlatov tried to find an occupation which could
be his calling. He spent the larger part of his life in St. Petersburg
where he studied at the philological department of the University. But
he was expelled. He was called-up for military service and his duty was
to guard camps for criminals. He wrote that the world that surrounded him
at that time was awful. Yet he kept smiling. He did not feel sad more often
than in other periods of his life. That world revealed for the writer the
truth of life. There he found many plots for his books. The job of a newspaper
correspondent and later that of a guide also provided him with rich experience.
He made use of it in his novels "Kompromis", or the compromise,
and "Zapovednik", or the nature reserve. Yet nothing came of
his numerous attempts to publish his books in the Soviet Union. Literary
critic Andrei Aryev, Dovlatov's friend, gives the following reasons for
his failure. He says if you begin thinking of who is who in Dovlatov's
stories you can easily become confused and even upset. Why? The thing is
that everyday life appears dull against the background of Dovlatov's scenes
of life. This is one thing. The second reason why Dovlatov failed to have
his books published in the Soviet Union is, according to Andrei Aryev,
that the writer's opponents could not forgive him his strong feeling for
anything that was absurd in life-say, his characters are strange in many
respects yet they are personalities. The writer does not look down his
nose at them, he seems to be giving them a sideway glance and never draws
categorical conclusions. His humor is like that of Chaplin. His works are
keynoted with comics, irony, love and compassion.
In 1976 Sergei Dovlatov's stories were published in two Western journals,
one of them was Continent. That was the reason why he was expelled from
the Union of Journalists. The writer took it with irony. Three months before
his death he wrote that looking back at his cheerless past he realized
he was lucky since his literary debut was postponed for some 15 years and
his early works of which he could be later ashamed did not see the light.
After lengthy consideration he took a painful decision to emigrate. In
1978 he emigrated to Austria and then to the United States. He lived in
New York where he published a liberal newspaper "The New American"
and acted as a host at Radio Svoboda. He lived and worked and listened
to jazz which he adored. There were many good jazz bands in America at
the time.
One of his best novels written in the United States is "Inostranka",
or the Foreigner, in which Dovlatov portrays vividly his milieu, which
is usually referred to as the Russian emigration of the "third wave".
He knew just too well relations, conflicts and problems of his characters.
He wrote at the time that for the fifth year he was doing everything upside
down and could not get used to it. In such a way he alluded to the differences
in the way of life in Russia and the United States and the fact the two
countries lie in different hemispheres.
Sergei Dovlatov's life in the United States was not easy and carefree.
Yet he got an opportunity to write what he wanted without thinking of the
consequences. And he used this opportunity to the full. Twelve years of
his life in the United States saw a boom in his popularity. In those years
he published 12 books in Russian. During his life these books were translated
into English, German, Finnish, Japanese, Dutch and Swedish. The prominent
poet Josef Brodski explained this by the fact Dovlatov's books were easy
to translate, the structure of his sentences did not complicate the work
of translator. Dovlatov won an award of the US Pen Club, his works saw
the light in the prestigious Newyorker journal which earlier published
only one Russian writer - Vladimir Nabokov.
Sergei Dovlatov began to write books before emigration yet unlike such
authors as Solzhenitsyn and Brodski his works were not published before
the exile. Dovlatov emigrated to become a professional man of letters and
was proud that he could reach his goal. He created a literary world of
his own and an epigraph to it could be the words of the US famous poet
Wallas Stevens that the world is absurd and people are dull.
DARYA DONTSOVA:
TALES FOR ADULTS OR THE LIFE OF A MILLIONAIRE
Darya Dontnsova, the author of popular "who done it" novels,
caused a real furor among Russian readers when she first appeared on the
literary horizon in 2000. Within a year 20 books by the new Russian Agatha
Cristie came out with 11 more from the "Ironic Detective Novel"
series waiting to be published by the "Eksmo-Press" firm.
One of the two main heroines of her novels is a harpist named Yevlampia
(an archaic Russian female 
name
that sounds rather funny nowadays). Permanently out of job and utterly
helpless in everyday life, she somehow manages to unravel intricate crimes.
The other "detective" is Dasha, the widow of a French millionaire.
Having no personal problems to bother herself with, she undertakes to settle
other people's affairs, paying fantastic sums for the information she needs.
The author admits that both of her heroines are "a bit stupid".
"15 pages a day is my daily minimum", Dontsova said in one
of her latest interviews. "Once, when my children went away, leaving
me alone for a while, I used to turn out 35 pages a day. Of course, I am
perfectly aware that I am not Dostoyevsky. I don't try to convey any philosophic
views, since I've got none, or surprise anyone with descriptions of nature.
I am more interested in irony related to myself or to my family. Family
life abounds in funny episodes. If I roar with laughter, rereading a just
written passage, then I feel it's all right. I never know in advance who
the murderer is and only begin to realize it when I get to some point.
It's the only way I can write".
Some readers screw up their faces at despicably true, horrifying scenes
occasionally found in her books: a decrepit wooden house giving shelter
to vagrant women who ruined themselves by drinking and to their cynical
children. Others pay no attention to such scenes and praise Dontsova for
her sense of humor, impeccable style and female logic.
"I will turn 50 soon", Dontsova says. "I saw this life
"from the left" and "from the right". A philologist
by profession, I taught foreign languages at a college. Then, when my daughter
was born, I started giving private lessons. For 20 years I worked as a
free-lance reporter at a daily newspaper information department. When I
write, I see a "picture", a sort of videotape. All I need is
to put down what I see. Perhaps, this is the result of psychotherapy I
resorted to before cancer surgery. The doctors told me that I only have
3 months more to live. And I have three children, one grandson, five dogs,
two cats, two grandmothers… A husband! What will they do without me? When
I scrambled out, I thought: why not sit down and write something? Writing
became my safe haven. They tried to portray me as a dying lady writing
detective novels on her death-bed. This made me laugh. My books contain
no autobiographic episodes. I rarely tell the truth. I am a blatant liar".
.
THE "MOSCOW KREMLIN" CHOIR CELEBRATES
ITS 10TH BIRTHDAY
This month a well-known Russian choir known as the "Moscow Kremlin"
choir celebrates its 10th birthday. Says the choir's artistic director
Gennady Dmitryak: "The choir was set up specifically for the "Moscow
Kremlin" museum. A symbol of Russian statehood,
Orthodoxy, the Kremlin is also a splendid architectural compound with a
peculiar historical atmosphere and deep-running musical traditions. For
five centuries the so-called deacon choirs, Russia's first professional
choirs, sang in the Kremlin's beautiful churches. Our choir thus upholds
the national choral tradition interrupted during Soviet times. Naturally,
our repertoire consists to a large extent of Orthodox chants".
A distinctive feature of the "Moscow Kremlin" choir is a
volumetric, powerful sound so characteristic of Russian choral signing.
"Our collective is fairly small, just 20 singers. This is, in fact,
a chamber choir", Dmitryak says. "But all singers are soloists
with rich colorful voices. They are high-skilled professionals both in
solo and choral singing. The secret of our sound lies in the rich vocal
opportunities of our signers".
As part of the "Moscow Kremlin" museum, the choir engages
in enlightenment activity. "We have created special music programs
devoted to the Kremlin's history and culture. For instance, "Medieval
Russian Music" featuring the "znamenny" style of singing
and ancient Orthodox chants. Or "The Music of the Patriarch's Palace"
devoted to polyphony in early Russian Orthodox music. Other programs focus
on 19th and 20th century music. Some of them are available on CDs".
During the past 10 years the choir's activity expanded beyond the purely
museum framework. The choir often performs at official Kremlin receptions
like it did, for example, during the recent visits to Moscow by the leaders
of China and North Korea. It had the honor of performing during a service
Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexi II conducted at the Kremlin's
Assumption Cathedral.
The choir's repertoire doesn't consist entirely of church music. It
boasts secular music as well. The choir has toured half the world. "We
went to Europe several times, performing in Germany, the Netherlands, France,
Italy, 
Spain,
Switzerland", Gennady Dmitryak recalls. "Not long ago we gave
concerts on Cuba. This trip is of special importance to me since I lectured
at the local Higher Music Institute some in the mid-80s. We were granted
a marvelous reception. The Cubans are very fond of Russian music, especially
folk songs".
The choir celebrated its 10th birthday at the Vladimir Hall of the
Great Kremlin Palace. "It was a great honor to us", Dmitryak
says. "Concerts in the Kremlin, be it the Patriarch's Palace or the
Armory or the magnificent halls of the Great Kremlin Palace will never
become ordinary events. We thoroughly prepare for them and each time we
are all keyed up. Words fail to describe the atmosphere filling Kremlin
halls, the spirit of the past centuries of Russian history".
TRADITION OF MOSCOW HOSPITALITY
M.Faustova
A new exhibition has recently opened in the Moscow State Historical
Museum entitled "Moscow Ambassadorial"
Russia is known for its hospitality, it has always been giving a warm
reception to its foreign guests. In 862 the residents of Great Novgorod
invited Varagian Ryrik from the north, the present-day territory of Scandinavia,
and handed him the keys from the city. Later his descendents were the ruling
dynasty of the Moscow state. True, uninvited guests and aggressors met
with a firm rebuff. Russians held fast against Tartar-Mongol invaders who
within two centuries did not slacken their attempts to conquer huge territories
of the country. They fought against Teutonic knights and Levon aggressors.
Russia has always been upholding the principle of "who comes to us
with a sword will be by that sword defeated." A sponsor of the exhibition,
Yury Tavrovski, says that the traditon to be kind to foreigners can be
traced back to the 16th century. In 1556 tzar Ivan the Terrible rent out
a building in the Varbarka street to the first British ambassadors where
the so-called Old British Yard is located today. In such a way he made
a start on diplomatic relations. At that time the first ambassadorial department
was set up, a state structure responsible for correspondence with other
countries, sending Russian ambassadors abroad and reception of foreign
envoys and traders. In addition, the ambassadorial department had to work
out a special ceremony of meeting the guests and the rules of etiquette.
They had been preserved unchanged up to the 1917 October revolution. The
current exposition in the Moscow State Historical Museum allows visitors
to judge about nuances of the etiquette in the capital. Say, on display
are women's dresses of the time of Empress Anna Ioanovna. A dress of a
lady-in-waiting is rather fancy and modest at the same time. Sleeves are
decorated with golden threads and glass beads. Man's suit is strict. There
are no excessive details, nothing that could be described as pretentious.
Part of the 18th-century diplomacy was chess. It was a sign of honor to
offer a game of chess to a foreign guest, therefore, almost all Russian
noblemen could play chess. What mattered was not the outcome but the offer
to display intellect in a battle of wits. Finally, guests were invited
to the emperor's dinner. There was a special dinner etiquette stipulating
the way dishes should be offered to ambassadors. Most respected guests
were offered dishes from the emperor's table and wines in goblets with
the emblem of the tzar family.
The first foreigners who arrived in Russia had a vague idea of the
country. Proof of this are numerous maps of foreign ambassadors on display.
Say, Dutch ambassadors believed that there were thick forests full of pirates
and cows near the Kremlin, Moscow's main fortress. As for the first British
ambassadors, they imagined Russia as the land of camels and lamas. Everything
is moving with the times, yet today Moscow is as hospitable as ever. The
capital's diplomatic corps created in 1921 continues to be show concern
for all foreigners arriving in Moscow.
OBRAZTSOV INTERNATIONAL PUPPET FESTIVAL
56 puppet theatres from 27 countries have gathered in Moscow for the
1st international puppet festival timed to the centennial birthday of the
great Russian puppeteer Sergei Obraztsov (September 14 through 23).
The founder of Russia's professional puppet theatre, Obraztsov remains
one of the most authoritative puppeteers in the world. For years he was
the honorary president of the International Puppeteers' Union set up in
1929. 
In 1946
his puppet show for adults "The Unusual concert" brought him
enormous popularity. The fascinating revue-style parody of a concert featuring
amusing and comic personages - some invented, others borrowed from real
life - has been performed over 10 thousands times and appears on the Guinness
Book Of Records as the longest-living puppet show. Obraztsov raised the
unprestigious profession of a puppeteer to a glamorous height. Moscow's
Obraztsov Puppet Theatre bearing the name of its founder and all-time director
boasts a unique collection numbering some 3000 puppets from 50 countries.
This year it celebrates the 70th anniversary of its creation.
"The festival was preceded by a protracted organizing period",
says the project's director Natalia Kovaleva. "The exact dates were
announced in April and considering that troupes all over the world plan
their tour schedule for at least 6 months ahead, there was some uncertainty
about the expected representation of the forum. But we underestimated the
cooperative spirit of puppeteers. They changed their plans in order to
assemble in Moscow. We will have Jim Gamble's theatre from the United States.
The well-known Austrian puppeteer and pianist Norman Schettler will bring
his "Musical Cabaret". He took part in the 1st Moscow international
Tchaikovsky competition but his real passion was puppets. Among the participants
is a family theatre from Rajastan, India: its actors are also puppet-makers
- they design and make puppets and sew costumes for them. We will also
have troupes working exclusively with junior audiences. For instance, the
Granny theatre from Germany. It performs in children's rehabilitation centers,
using special methods that enable children to co-participate in the action".
Other participants include puppet theatres from St.-Petersburg and
Yekaterinbourg as well as from Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS
member-states.
The Obraztsov festival is a string of premieres, one of which - "The
Great Mocker" devoted to Sergei Obraztsov - features more than 100
puppets. Based on Obraztsov's book "Down The Steps Of Memory",
it contains fragments of his solo concerts and flashbacks of his life and
career.
ALEXANDER KNYAZEV: TIME IS AN IMPORTANT
FACTOR IN ARTS
/Profile of a musician/
L.Roshchina
Alexander Knyazev is a soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Society,
a prominent cellist. He is 35 and is well-known in many countries. He gives
many solo concerts and often performs as a member of chamber orchestras.
In recent years Alexander Knyazev 
developed
a keen interest in organ. The versatility of the musician's interests places
him in one raw with the leaders of Russian contemporary arts.
Alexander Knyazev says that his first impression of music is unforgettable.
He was 3-4 when he listened for the first time to Bach's "Brandenburg"
concert recorded on an old record. His parents reminisced that the music
came as something stunning to the little boy. He requested to play that
record over and over again. He listened to it no less than 50 times. His
parents realized that the boy had a natural bent for classical music. They
were not musicians but they were genuine admirers of classical music. Bach
is Alexander Knyazev's favorite composer to the present day.
Alexander Knyazev is dedicated to the cello. This endless love of the
cello was instilled in him by his remarkable teacher, Alexander Fedorchenko.
Alexander Knyazev believes that the cello is the musical instrument
which is the closest to human voice. Human voice, he says, is a natural
musical instrument. This is the secret of the cello. The cello was recognized
as a solo musical instrument only in the 20th century owing to performances
of brilliant musicians, such as, say, the Spanish great musician Pablo
Casals.
Knyazev's favorite cello made by Carlo Bergonzi in 1733 shares its
master's success at the concerts. This musical instrument from Russia's
state collection has an interesting history. Prior to 1921 Russia's renowned
cellist Grigory Pyatigorsky played it, later- Svyatoslav Knushevski who
was as popular as its previous master. For 14 years now Alexander Knyazev
was playing that unique cello. He plays in concerts with other prominent
musicians, too. "I am a happy person," says the cellist. "My
partners at the concerts are outstanding musicians-violinist Viktor Tretyakov
and viola player Yury Bashmet. Every year I attend his festival of chamber
music on the Elba island in Italy. My remarkable partner is also pianist
Mikhail Voskresenski. Recently I began giving concerts with another pianist,
Nikolai Luganski. We have a common hobby, and this is chess. True, he always
wins. Shortly, a disk we have recorded will be on sale. I often perform
together with Vladimir Spivakov, too.
For 7 years now Alexander Knyazev has been a teacher of the Moscow
Conservatoire. He has few students since those who are not dedicated to
music and the cello usually desert this teacher. Alexander also takes a
deep interest in philosophic problems of classical arts. "Time,"
Alexander Knyazev says, "is the most important factor in arts."
"The things that I admired 5 years ago I do not like today, or they
have been pushed to the background by something else. Mankind entered a
new century and this caused changes in performance of modern musicians.
Time factor is extremely important. The changing way of life has its impact
on musicians. Say, from time to time I have a wish to make new recordings
of musical compositions which have earlier been recorded more than once.
Only few great musicians have always been faultless in their performance
and did not need to introduce any changes.
Aesthetic views of Alexander Knyazev are clear if one looks at his
repertoire.
"I am a conservative person", says the musician. "I
agree that the 20th-century music is interesting. Yet I include few pieces
of that music in my repertoire. If I have choice I give preference to Mozart,
Beethoven or Bach. I feel this is music of our time, it is not the music
of a by-gone era. I often think of the great talent of Bach whose music
sounds modern now that more than three centuries have passed. This is stunning.
He gave a powerful impulse to the art of music.
Alexander Knyazev was the first cellist who recorded Bach's Ciaccona
which was originally written for violin.
Alexander Knyazev gives a lot of concerts in various countries of the
world. Yet he does not imagine that he could live in some other place,
not in Moscow.
"I adore Moscow. This is my favorite city though I have seen many
sites on almost all continents--Australia, Africa, America, to say nothing
of Europe and Asia. I cannot imagine living beyond Russia, without its
nature and people. What amazed me in the West is musical education of the
population, the so-called average level. I recall a wonderful festival
in Nantes in France. Within three days over 200 concerts were given from
9 a. m till 12 p.m. Is not this a triumph of classical music? I was happy
to play compositions of my friend, modern French composer Jean Gilo there.
"SUMMER VACATIONS" OF SCOLARSHIP
WINNERS OF VLADIMIR SPIVAKOV'S FUND
Vladimir Spivakov, the renowned Russian violinist and conductor, likes
to repeat: "I want people to believe in miracles". Much of what
he has already done is a true miracle. The Spivakov fund provides versatile
support for talented children, presents young musicians with musical instruments
and young painters with canvases, paints and brushes. It organizes concerts,
exhibitions and master classes and finances medical treatment for disabled
children.
The regions embraced by the Spivakov fund are a big empire", says
the fund's director Yekaterina Shirman. "At present it takes care
of more than 2000 children in Russia, CIS republics and many other countries.
Significantly, more and more prominent public and politicians get involved
in its charity actions. Not long ago the Russian President Putin invited
maestro Spivakov to the Krmelin to discuss preparation for a forum of civic
initiatives due to be held in December".
This summer's concert schedule was extremely tense. Young talents attended
master-classes in Italy, Britain, Germany, France, Croatia and took part
in international festivals and competitions. "Croatia is already a
tradition", says Yekaterina Shirman. "Our children have performed
in Zagreb for several years. Last year we got acquainted with the well-known
Croatian pianist and composer Sanya Draculic. She helped open the Spivakov
fund's affiliate in Croatia. We established ties with the "Croatian
Musical Youth" incorporated into the 60-member International Musical
Youth Federation sponsored by UNESCO. Every year conducts some 45 thousand
musical actions throughout the globe, one of them being "The Summer
International School in Grajnyani", Croatia".
Life in that Adriatic Sea resort is very eventful: art exhibitions,
concerts, swimming, excursions to Venice, master-classes... The well-known
American percussionist John Beck, who conducted master-classes for young
musicians, praised the 11-year-old drummer Rostislav Sharoyevsky from Russia.
Despite his young age, Rostislav is a laureate of many prestigious competitions,
including in Canada, the United States and France. Saxophone player Dmitry
Kuznetsov, aged 14, and pianist Tatiana Sidorova, aged 17, conquered the
hearts of professionals and ordinary public by demonstrating brilliant
technique in various genres from classical music to jazz.
"One of the aims of our tours is to show the world how talented
our children are", says Yelena Babicheva, an adviser with the Spivakov
Fund. "In Croatia they produced a real sensation. No one expected
such mastery from children. They gave concerts in Medulina, at the international
Amadeo festival in Zagreb and in the St.-Francisque church in Pul. When
Rostislav Sharoyevsky was playing "The Summer" from Vivaldi's
"Seasons", the audience was mesmerized. The Croatian press wrote
that three Russian children shocked the public by their top professionalism".
24.09.2001
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