People and events:

• A HEAVYWEIGHT PIANIST WITH THE SHY LOOK OF A PROFESSOR (the 60th birth anniversary of Nikolai Petrov)
• A MESSANGER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (the 70th birth anniversary of Boris Strugatsky)

A HEAVYWEIGHT PIANIST WITH THE SHY LOOK OF A PROFESSOR

(the 60th birth anniversary of Nikolai Petrov)

By O. Bugrova
On April 14 the world-famous pianist Nikolai Petrov turned 60.
"A heavyweight pianist with the shy look of a professor", "a tamer of the grand-piano" who has everything - technique, soul, musicality - needed to be a giant among his colleagues - that's how foreign press portrays Nikolai Petrov.
Giving up to 100 concerts a year, having 50 solo programs and 55 concertos for piano and orchestra in his rich and versatile repertoire embracing music of epochs, he is indeed a record-holder and a most universal performer with no obvious preferences to some or other style.
Petrov's vast tour geography stretches from Europe and the United States to South America and Asia. Unlike most of his celebrated fellow pianists, he often performs at home, perhaps even more frequently than abroad, and not just in the Moscow Conservatory's Grand Hall but elsewhere in Russia. Petrov is a musician with a great sense of responsibility, as he himself admits.
"I do my work honestly", Petrov says. "It makes no difference whether I play at a town near Moscow or at New York's Carnegie-Hall. A musician must be equally responsible for what he does irrespective of the venue or prestige. Otherwise, performance becomes a routine".
Life was kind to him. Petrov was born into a Moscow family with deep musical roots. His grandfather, a Bolshoi Theatre soloist, performed on the same stage with the legendary bass Fedor Chaliapin. When Nikolai Petrov entered Moscow Conservatory, it boasted a constellation of brilliant professors, patriarchs of the domestic piano school. "Back then we had a rich choice", Petrov says. "There were different paths to music - through Genrikh Neigauz, Konstantin Igumnov, Yakov Zak or Yakov Flier. All these paths led to one goal. Suppose a student had a stage syndrome - he would attend Flier's classes. If he needed more classical training - he would go to professor Zak. Now much has been reduced to the average. What used to be piece production has been put on a conveyer. As a result, a performer's individuality is lost. Today, hearing contemporary young pianists, even the strongest ones, we would hardly tell their names. But when it comes to Vladimir Horowitz, Svyatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels or Vladimir Sofronitsky, we immediately recognize them".
The same applies to Petrov, whose easily recognizable manner combines the power and clarity of thought and virtuoso technique, the latter being not a self-target but a means of conveying emotions. He is one of the few musicians who perform Hector Berlioz's "Fantastic Symphony" arranged for piano. Incidentally, his program "Composers - Balzac's Friends" comprising pieces by Beethoven, Liszt and Berlioz won him the Gold Medal of the Balzac Academy in France.
One of the most authoritative Russian pianists, whose opinion is worth heeding, Petrov is President of the Academy of Russian Art, a member of the presidential Council for Culture and Arts and the holder of the Order of Merit. A few years ago he set up a charity fund to support young talents, which sponsors the annual "Musical Kremlin" festival. Despite his tight schedule, Petrov finds time for his hobbies - contemporary movies and jazz.
The Canadian newspaper "L'Action" once wrote about Petrov: "This Russian pianist has no weaknesses. He has youth and impetuosity, and profound respect for music as if for a living creature".
 

A MESSANGER FROM ANOTHER PLANET

(the 70th birth anniversary of Boris Strugatsky)

By V. Zherdeva
On April 15 the well-known Russian science fiction writer Boris Strugatsky celebrated his 70th birthday. For years he has been working in tandem with his co-author and brother Arkady. People joked that Russia had only one really good science fiction writer - "the Strugatsky brothers". Most of their novels entered the golden fund of domestic and world science fiction and were translated into many languages.
The magic of their intricate plots with deep philosophic and ethical lining hypnotizes and captivates readers of all ages, education and social background. Strugatsky's first book "The Land of Purple Clouds" (1959) was about a manned flight to Venus. Critics wrote that it made stark contrast with the dull science fiction of the 50s. Then came "Six Matches" (a selection of short stories), "Noon, 22nd Century", "Escape Attempt", "Hard to Be a God", "Monday Begins on Saturday". By combining psychological prose, detective plot, humor and tragedy, the Strugatsky brothers created a new genre of science fiction. They were the first to explore the possible negative consequences of human contacts with representatives of other worlds. Many of their novels were screened. In 1979 Andrei Tarkovsky used Strugatsky's short novel "Roadside Picnic" to make one of his best films - "Stalker". Now the well-known Hollywood producer James Wong, the author of the "X-Files" serial, intends to screen his version of "Roadside Picnic".
Astronomers paid tribute to the Strugatsky brothers' popularity by giving their name to a minor planet in the asteroid belt. Their life was surrounded by rumors. For example, in the early 70s some romantic-minded science fiction lovers claimed that Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were aliens.
After his brother's death in 1991, Boris Strugatsky continued penning science fiction plots under the pseudonym of Vititsky, emerging as a gloomier and more sarcastic author focusing on philosophic questions: what is human in man, how did he acquire it and how can his human essence be enlarged? ("Destination Search or the Twenty-Seventh Theorem of Ethics", "The Impotent of This World").
Boris Strugatsky conducts annual science fiction seminars launched in 1974. He is the founder, president and a single member of the jury of the "Bronze Snail" prize awarded to the most talented domestic science fiction authors. Besides, he is the chief editor and sponsor of the "Noon. 21st Century" literary journal publishing science fiction stories by young writers.