People and events:

• "We ARE ALL EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR RUSSIA" (interview with Minister of Culture and Mass Communications Alexander Sokolov)
• NIKITA MIKHALKOV PRESENTS "RUSSIAN CHOICE"
• VLADIMIR KRAINEV - "MISTER EXPRESSION"
• TRIBUTE TO SERGEI PARADZHANOV
• ROMAN VIKTYUK STAGES OPERA

"We ARE ALL EQUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR RUSSIA"
(interview with Minister of Culture and Mass Communications Alexander Sokolov)

Not long ago Russia's Minister of Culture and Mass Communications Alexander Sokolov gave a large interview for the Mayak radio company. Here are some excerpts from his interview.
The aim of the newly-created Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications set up under a presidential decree to replace the former Ministry of Culture is to implement the government's policy and exercise regulation in the sphere of culture, arts, cinematograph, archives and interethnic relations. While building his team, Alexander Sokolov admitted that along with experienced professionals he would to see new people among his staff. As far as mass communications are concerned, he would like to invite specialists with alternative viewpoints to traditional problems.
What aspects of modern Russian culture need reform prior to others?
- Here I would single out problems which can't be solved inside the Ministry of Culture but which can be solved through its active assistance. First of all, the problem of education where the functions of our ministry and the education ministry intersect. In my former capacity as the rector of Moscow Conservatory, I always found myself in pretty uncertain situations when one and the same problem was interpreted differently by the two ministries. This uncertainty reveals itself in our attitude to the so-called "Bologna process" - a declaration paving the way for a rapprochement between educational structures in various countries. "The As one of the forms of globalization, the "Bologna process" seems fairly good except when it comes to education with each country demonstrating its own approach and mentality. Here we risk major losses, including our obvious advantages in the system of artistic education, which should be defended and explained to colleagues from other countries. This is one of our top priorities. No other country can boast of a system of specialized musical education adopted in Russia. Countries in which the government's attention to musical education goes beyond verbal declarations start modeling it after the Russian system. While in Japan, for instance, no certificate about graduation from a music school is required to get enrolled into the musical department of a university, in Russia no such thing is even hypothetically possible. Conservatory applicants must have a complex preliminary specialized musical education fixed in corresponding diplomas. These problems can only be resolved through a close interaction between the two ministries - Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications and Ministry of Education and Science.
Another sphere that needs reforming concerns restitution of cultural treasures, and it too requires interaction of several structures, says Culture Minister Alexander Sokolov.
- This is a purely political and very complicated problem. And since it's not a "blank sheet" we are starting from, all previous stages should be taken in to account. Apparently, some former laws should be considered, including a federal law "about cultural treasures displaced to the Soviet Union during World War II." The main thing about this law is that it rules out any personal voluntary decisions in matters concerning restitution. This aspect of the reform should be brought out to the highest state level and involve top-class specialists. Some documents will have to be adjusted and the proposed changes must be open for wide public debate. And after that, without polarizing positions with our foreign colleagues, we will solve the problem of restitution as a problem of international cultural space, since it's not a purely Russian problem. Other countries too face similar problems.
The government's attitude to cultural processes is very important. Will there be any changes here?
- The aim of our ministry is to implement the government's policy. But then this policy must be worked out. I studied a schedule of cabinet meetings until May and saw that only one issue on the agenda directly concerned the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications, namely the preservation of monuments. The rest are economic and social problems. However, most of them have aspects that should be elucidated from a cultural standpoint. What I mean is that the positions of culture should not be disregarded and in some cases should receive priority in handling major state problems. Let's take a look at financing, for example. Budget allocations for culture can't meet the real cultural needs. Why not attract investments from small and medium-scale business? So far, we only have support from very big financial structures for which helping art collectives is part of world business ethics. For instance, the Russian LUKOIL Co. sponsors the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. We should start from legislation: by changing it in culture's favor without hurting the interests of small and medium-scale business, we will encourage businessmen to help culture. I will propose corresponding changes.
In conclusion, Alexander Sokolov assured listeners that meetings of his ministry's Board would be open. "We are all equally responsible for Russia", he concluded.

NIKITA MIKHALKOV PRESENTS "RUSSIAN CHOICE"

In March-April the Rossiya television premiered the "Russian Choice" documentary serial directed by the well-known filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov. Devoted to Russian emigres, the film shows video archives from the late 1910s-early 1920s depicting the exodus of hundreds and hundreds of Russians after the 1917 revolution and subsequent civil war that split the Russian society into the "white" and "red". The "white" comprised officers of the tsarist army, aristocrats and intelligentsia who were in opposition to the Bolshevik regime.
The serial's main characters are admiral Kolchak, generals Denikin and Vrangel, admiral Berens and other "white army" commanders. The film carries rare video chronicles, old photographs, reminiscences of key figures of the "white" and Mikhalkov's comments.
The film evoked response from a great number of people. There was an avalanche of letters. People exchanged opinions about the serial on a special Internet website. The Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Culture Fund and the management of the "Rossiya" TV channel discussed the documentary's significance in a round-table meeting.
"We didn't set ourselves the task of providing answers to all questions. It's impossible," says Nikita Mikhalkov. "But I was glad to hear a non-speculative point of view, as one may call it. In the early 90s many in Russia went to sleep as "red" and woke up as "tricolor", the color of the Russian national flag. It's amazing how easily they betrayed socialist ideals. Our serial is the first and cautious attempt to explore the tragic destinies of Russian emigres from a different angle. I would call it the first swallow symbolizing the beginning of a new public movement".
"The film is not about the former Russia and how wonderful it was," says State Duma deputy Natalia Narochnitskaya. "We know nothing about those people, what they were like and how they behaved. It's a film about people's love for their homeland. The reawakening of our national consciousness and our historical memory is the life-giving force that will help us to build our future on the basis of our heritage."
"The film is an attempt to overcome historical forgetfulness", echoes archpriest and historian Georgy Mitrofanov. "This is something that distinguished the "red" from the "white". The "white" cared for Russian history and it helped them retain spiritual sobriety."
"There are lots of people in the West, who are connected some way or other with the first wave of Russian emigration," says reverend father Illarion, a priest at an Orthodox church in Austria. "For them, for their parents and descendants, it's very important to see that historic justice is restored, that people in modern Russia take an objective and unbiased approach to history. I am sure the "Russian Choice" will arouse great interest in the West".
Maria Apraksina returned to Russia a few years ago. Her father was baron Vrangel's secretary and preserved a greater part of the general's archives. Most of these documents were used by the authors of a new book entitled "The Crusade of Baron Vrangel".
Maria Apraksina says that the majority of emigres hoped to come back. Scattered around the world and speaking different languages, they were all united by Orthodox faith and hope of returning. Now it became possible to come to Russia and establish personal contacts without fearing anything.
After decades of separation from their historic homeland, consolidation of Russian compatriots abroad is becoming a state policy. The first seven parts of Mikhalkov's "Russian Choice" serial will soon be available on video cassettes.

VLADIMIR KRAINEV - "MISTER EXPRESSION"

Vladimir Krainev is one of the most distinguished Russian musicians, an internationally famous pianist and conductor. In April he received a high state award, the Order of Merits, in connection with his 60th birthday.
Krainev is an exceptionally energetic person. His wife, the outstanding figure skating coach Tatiana Tarasova, calls him a "cart horse" and his colleagues dubbed him "Mister Expression". He gives up to 50 concerts a year, gathering full houses. Also, he teaches at the Hanover Higher Music School in Germany: there he has the biggest class and students adore him. He runs an international charity fund that provides support for young pianists and sponsors an annual international piano competition in the junior age group. On top of all, Krainev is on the jury of many prestigious music contests. An extraordinary personality, he possesses some magnetic charm that keeps attracting people to him. In his youth, Krainev, a favorite student of the great Genrikh Neigauz, stunned the world music public with his early victories at Lids (Britain), Lisbon (Portugal) and the Moscow Tchaikovsky competition. He owed his success to his brilliant technique and bright artistic temperament, but also to his rare self-giving - "a good performance is the one that is watered with a drop of fresh blood". This is what distinguishes a true musician of the Russian piano school. The latter concept, in Krainev's opinion, is losing its former significance. For example, at the Hanover Higher Music School, the teaching staff comprises musicians from Norway, Israel, Russia, France and Britain. Or take Asia. Many professors from Russia, America and Europe teach music in China, Korea and Japan. But let's look at the Russian piano school. Richter, Gilels, Oborin, Zak, Flier, Ashkenazi, Pletnev…, all Russian pianists but all so different and each one a remarkable personality. "Oh, it's a French school, and oh, that's an Italian school" is not the way people listen to music. What they need is a personality.
A musician's personality reveals itself in his choice of music. Paraphrasing a common expression - "say what you play and I'll say what kind of person you are". Krainev is equally fond of Chopin and Prokofiev, two great composers so different from each other. His outstanding partners include Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yuri Temirkanov, Yuri Bashmet and Alexander Rudin. Many well-known art figures, movie and theatre actors participate in his concerts. Popular actor Sergei Yursky once said about Krainev: "There is a harmonious balance between the two wings of his talent, the art of performance and the art of teaching. And these wings enable him to take off. I don't know what this miracle rests on, it's a mystery".

TRIBUTE TO SERGEI PARADZHANOV

Ceremonies were held in Moscow in March-April to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the birth of the famous Russian film director Sergei Paradzhanov.
Critics compare his heritage with an unknown island that has been rediscovered today. Paradzhanov's best films "The Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors", "The Color of Pomegranate", "The Legend of Surami Fortress" rank him along with such celebrities as Federico Fellini, Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni and Pierre Pasolini. His films are distinguished by a peculiar composition of colors and forms. As a painter, he attached great importance to color. Antonioni called Paradzhanov one of the best filmmakers of his time and especially liked "The Color of Pomegranate", which stunned him with its pictorial beauty. Paradzhanov made wonderful collages waste objects people disposed of.
It was not until after his death that Paradzhanov's stylistically complicated art, so remote from the standards of the former Soviet "socialist realism", acquired recognition it deserved, and during his life the frivolous conduct and imprudent statements of the dissident-minded filmmaker earned him a 4-year jail term. For a long time Paradzhanov was banned from presenting his films in foreign countries. Only two years before his death, his "Ashik-Kebab", an adaptation of Mikhail Lermontov's poem, was shown in the Netherlands, Germany and Venice.
"Strange as it may seem, Singapore was the first to launch anniversary ceremonies dedicated to the memory of Paradzhanov," says critic Kora Tsereteli. "The director of a local movie festival, who is in love with Paradzhanov, invited me to make a retrospect of his films. The show drew in crowds of moviegoers. At the last show of "The Color of Pomegranate", the hall was packed - people stood in the aisles as all seats were occupied. There was a similar situation during a retrospect of Paradzhanov's films in Geneva".
Moscow paid tribute to the great master by Paradzhanov Week and the premiere of a documentary about his life. "Orpheus Descends To the Underworld" directed by Levon Grigorian, traces crucial stages of Paradzhanov's biography. For one, it shows his prison cycle of drawings on Biblical themes and tells about his unrealized plans, among them the film "Confession" conceived as a reminiscence about his childhood and reflections on his life. Paradzhanov's script for this film was used in the play "Paradzhanov" running at Moscow's Paradzhanov Foyer Theatre founded a decade ago.

ROMAN VIKTYUK STAGES OPERA

In April, Roman Viktyuk, one of the most prolific and most fashionable Russian theatre directors, premiered his version of Bizet's "Pearl Divers" at Moscow's Novaya Opera Theatre. Some of its fragments are having a successful run as separate concert numbers. The premiere was a real treat for the Moscow public.
For the first time in decades Bizet's much-forgotten masterpiece premiered almost simultaneously in Moscow and Kazan.
"At the present time of emotional deficiency, the souls of the great are returning to us," says Roman Viktyuk. "There works charged with great emotional energy are becoming increasingly popular with new generations. Bizet died at the age of 36. "Pearl Divers" is one of the most tender operas a 24-year-old composer was capable of writing. But as the famous Canadian pianist Glen Guild wrote in his diary, in the 21st century people will only just begin to feel and understand Bizet's heritage".
The action takes place in India. Two friends, Zurga and Nadir, both fell in love with a woman named Leila, and became enemies. She is a priestess who lost her chastity. Critics blame the libretto written by Carre and Cormon for the poor success of the opera after it first premiered in 1863. And only Bizet's young colleague, composer Hector Berlioz, noted that the score had lots of very beautiful and expressive pieces.
We transferred the action to a concrete theatre, the Novaya opera stage on which the opera is rehearsed and simultaneously filmed. The main character, Zurga is both the divers' leader and a filmmaker who is shooting the opera. So the plot unfolds on two planes: the opera performance and modern life. I think that the myth about Zurga, Nadir and Leila, and other myths - about Tristan and Izolda, about Orpheus - all these myths are very important for young souls, especially nowadays. Myths prevent mankind from sliding into a precipice…"
04/29/2004