250 YEAR TO RUSSIA' FIRST UNIVERSITY
60 YEARS PAST - THE JUBELEE
OF MAXIM DUNAYEVSKI
YURI KASPAROV: "KEEP UP
THE TRADITIONS"
NATALYA NESTEROVA
250 YEARS
TO RUSSIA'S OLDEST UNIVERSITY
By Milena
Faustova.
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On January 25 -- Russia's oldest University -- the Moscow
State University (MGU) marked its 250 anniversary. Founded in 1775
by virtue of the famous Russian universal scientist Mikhail Lomonosov with
the financial support and sponsorship of count Ivan Shuvalov and the beckoning
of Empress Elizabeth (Petrovna), the University promptly became Russia's
leading center of science and fundamental knowledge. So many loadstars
of Russian science became graduates and professors of this University.
Among them world-famous mathematician Andrei Kolmogorov and equally famous
physicist Lev Landau, chemist Alexei Balandin and many others, whose names
reverberated across the world. Suffice it to say that out of 18 Russian
Nobel-prize winners -- 11 were
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MGU graduates. 12 percent of all scientific discoveries registered in the
former Soviet Union belong to the University's scientists.
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The MGU did not only influence the development
of natural sciences. It also promoted spiritual values and culture. It
is this University that gave rise to famous Russian philosophers and thinkers,
such as Vladimir Rozanov, Sergei Trubetzkoi, Pavel Florenski. Nikolai Rubenstein
-- the founder of Moscow's conservatoire graduated from the MGU. The same
is true of the famous singer -- Leonid Sobinov. Both of them studied at
the University's Law School. Yevgeny Vakhtangov -- the famous drama actor
and director and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko went through it. The University
right from its birth became famous for providing all-around education and
its graduates could implement their education in various scientific, social
and cultural areas. And so many poets and writers, who determined the flowering
of Russia literature of the 19-th, became graduates of the University --
Alexander Griboyedov, Mikhail Lermontov, Ivan Turgenev, Fedor Tutchev.
This is only a fraction of all those names, who became world-famous.
And this tradition was carried on into the present day.
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According to the Pushkin Arts Museum's director -- Irena
Antonova who graduated from the University in 1945, she is still closely
linked with it. Right after graduation she went to work at the Pushkin
Museum, where she has been up to now. "And since the Museum is permeated
with the University's spirit, it feels like I never left it", she said.
"This University" she further added - is a spiritual and intellectual center
of our country, and its 250-th anniversary is one of Russia's grandest
occasions."
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Irena Antonova also said that the Pushkin Arts Museum, which she has led
for over 40 years, was greatly influenced by the Moscow State University.
It is the University's professors who gave rise to the very idea of creating
an arts museum of the world's class. The idea was reiterated in the 60's
of the 18-th century and became implemented with the creation of a coin-collection
cabinet inside the University.
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Ivan Tzvetayev -- a University professor and noted Russian
philologist and arts expert was a forefather of this fine arts Museum who
set it up in 1912 .
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In the first decade of its existence this was a University
museum. And its employees by nearly 100 percent, with rare exceptions are
all graduates of the University. Thanks to this, the museum is permeated
by an atmosphere of scientific thought.
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The Moscow State University is a kind of trademark,
which obliges its graduates to keep it up.
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Mikhail Shvydkoi believes that free thought has existed
at the University at all times even at the most difficult and complex,
in ironclad conditions by dogmas. But its vigor and scientific potential
overcame any barriers. The University has benefited Russia's culture, no
less than it has fundamental sciences. Therefore, for those closely linked
with culture and the arts, this is a University of great artistic thought.
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And I feel elated when entering
the University watching the trepidation of a young boy who is about to
take an exam, which he fears to fail.
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Enrollment at the University has always been a
privilege. Many young people take repeated attempts to pass entrance exams
at the University, not just to become students of the best educational
institution of Russia, but in order to acquire a really brilliant education.
Today, the MGU with its 29 Departments and 15 scientific and research centers,
is rated among the 10 top institutions of higher learning in Europe.
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According to Oleg Morozov -- a member of Russia's State Duma
-- lower house of Parliament, the University's jubilee is a great event
in this country. "I have always been under the impression that there is
a University number one, which accepts only celestial dwellers. It is the
University named after Mikhail Lomonosov. And I have always thought that
it is something unattainable that it is absolutely top class of our institutions
of higher learning". "And even now I'm convinced that those who is linked
to the MGU is destined to play in top leagues. And the University is to
remain number one. Therefore I cordially congratulate all its professors
and students on its jubilee.
60 YEARS PAST - THE JUBELEE OF MAXIM DUNAYEVSKI
By N. Viktorova
Maxim Dunayevski -- the popular Russian composer marked his 60-th birthday.
Dunayevski is a family name known universally in Russia. It is associated
with joyful, optimistic and playful music. Maxim's father - Isaac Dunayevski
was a classic of the song genre, which was in his heyday fantastically
popular. Several generations of Russian people were born to his music in
the 30-50's of the past century. And his songs are still popular today.
It is not easy to be a son of such a famous composer and to be composer
in his own right. But Maxim Dunayevski succeeded in finding his own path
in arts, his inimitable style, without just mimickrying his famous father.
He acquired fame practically in the same genre as his father -- as a composer
writing songs, musicles and music for motion pictures.
Isaac Dunayevski passed away half a century
ago, when Maxim was a ten-year-old boy. But if Maxim were given a chance
to encounter his father now, which of his songs he would be proud to play
to him? Only after a momentary pause and hesitation, Maxim replied: "I
believe my father and I would enjoy hearing my song - 'Time to enjoy",
because this is a song in his spirit -- in major and upbeat mood. I believe
he would enjoy it".
"It's time to enjoy in our life-time a sweet belle, a
cup of wine and a happy sword". This song to the musicle "D'Artagnian and
Three Musketeers" was later renditioned in the same film, making famous
its author almost overnight.
Now it is considered almost like a business card of its
composer -- Maxim Dunayevski and its singer Mikhail Boyarski.
In his youth, Maxim Dunayevski recalls, he was preparing
to become "a serious" composer and composed symphony music. He received
academic musical education, graduated from a music school, higher musical
education, conservatoire, acquiring in the process several specialties,
engaging in grand piano performance, music conduction, music theory and
history and composition.
His composition professors included famous musicians,
such as Tikhon Khrennikov, Andrei Eshpai, Dmitri Kabalevski and Alfred
Shnitke.
Later on, Maxim, just as his father,
realized that affinity for the theater and motion pictures was his forte.
And it is precisely this path that was in store for him. He created 20
musicles and composed music for more than 60 films.
Most of Maxim Dunayevski’s popular songs were first
unveiled on the screen or from the theater stage, but later on they acquired
their own independent status.
“The happiest moment for a composer”, he admits,
“is when you leave an auditorium and hear a spectator singing your new
song composed especially for this spectacle”. “This is a great joy”. “This
is a yardstick which helps you determine that you did everything right”.
And indeed, spectators always sing along Maxim Dunayevski’s
songs, leaving the theater or a movie auditorium, just as they did his
father’s songs. And he does not worry about repeat screenings of popular
compositions. This includes, for example, “The Twelve Chairs” -- the famed
satirical novel by Ilf and Petrov. A new movie version after this novel
is to hit the screens shortly, this time to the music by Maxim Dunayevski.
He composed three musicles over the past year
alone testify to his work habits, which are amazing.
At New Year’s time, Russian TV-viewers appreciated
one more of Maxim Dunayevski’s new works. This is a comical TV musicle
called “The Three Musketeers”, or rather “The Three Musketeerees”, because
starring in the film are three ladies: singers Alena Sviridova, Anna Ardova
and Ruslana Pisanka.
Over the past years, Maxim Dunayevski undertook
quite a few projects in the United States, where musical shows are one
of the leading genres.
YURI KASPAROV: CARRYING ON WITH TRADITIONS IN THE 21-st
CENTURY
The Russian Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency
in Moscow became the venue for a round-table discussion on the subject
“Russia’s Culture in the 21 Century”. Taking part in the discussion were
notable art experts, literary critics and musicians. A wealth of fruitful
thoughts were aired on the evolution of theater, motion pictures, literature,
music and the esthetic upbringing of the younger generation. Yuri Kaparov—a
renowned composer, founder and creative director of the Moscow Modern Music
Ensemble participated in the round-table discussion. He granted an exclusive
interview to our Radio Company’s reporter.
One of the questions to Yuri Kasparov was
whether he agreed with an opinion voiced in the discussion about the roots
of the Russian arts going back into the distant past. Yuri Kasparov did
agree with the opinion. “There was never a period in our music”, he said,
“when everything was suspended and something totally different was initiated”.
“Yes,” he acknowledged, “there were difficult moments for creative people
in our history, and this is particularly true of the early 1930’s when
the authorities virtually disbanded the Modern Music Association and its
composer members – innovators, who didn’t have a chance to leave for the
West, most of them unrecognized, were wallowing in utter poverty”.
The names of some really outstanding composers
were deliberately ignored. This included, among others, Nikolai Roslavetz,
who is recognized today as a classic. He was one of the first who addressed
a new system of sound arrangement and composed, by the way, an opera dedicated
to radio invention. This was also true of Alexander Mosolov, whose creativity
was marked by bold quest. He was able, in particular, to incarnate in music,
a sound atmosphere of functioning machine tools in his orchestra piece
called “Factory” or in newspaper announcements.
For more than half a century our country was
struck off the all-European process of innovative arts evolution. But in
reality, we lost nothing. Our composers continued to work in this direction
and to raise their disciples. Possibly, the vanguard music did not enjoy
a vast following, but it never discontinued, and its logical evolution
went on uninterrupted. Nor do I see any hiatus in the continuity of our
generations. It may sound strange but there is still a palpable link with
Glinka and to modern young composers, who show although a different musical
expression, which is quite natural.
It should be pointed out that
by the 1960’s the Russian vanguard music produced new names, such as Edison
Denisov, Sofia Gubaidulina, Alfred Shnitke, who eventually gained world-wide
recognition as the 20-th century classics. At about the same time the city
of Nizhni Novgorod (named Gorky at the time) became the venue for modern
music festivals. In the 1970’s Moscow overjoyed followers by holding a
series of festivals called “The Moscow Autumn”. They are being held up
to now attracting the attention of both local and foreign composers. A
modern music festival held in 1988 in Leningrad (modern St.Petersburg)
was also quite memorable. Yuri Kasparov considers it a harbinger in the
history of modern music.
What was memorable about it? First, it was the scale
of the event. Secondly, its very serious selection of programs. Third,
its high-level of performance. Now, due to various reasons, some very talented
performers leave on tours without proper rehearsals, forgetting that even
the most brilliant music, poorly performed, cannot appeal to listeners,
no matter those from the capital, or provincial. And the 1988 festival
became a tuning fork of sorts of the high level of modern music in terms
of composition and performance but also in terms of tremendous listeners’
interest. The auditoriums were packed to capacity. The information on the
festival and the music played there spread far outside this forum. Frenchman
Pierre Boulez, Russian Sofia Gubaidulina, Greek Yanis Xenakis, German Wolfgang
Rimm – were all the brilliant names featuring the playbills at the time.
The festival gave a chance to a wide range of art lovers to appreciate
what transpired in the West and in Russia, which, by the way, displayed
diverse modern musical trends. It was a moment of euphoria, when it seemed
that a new epoch in modern arts was in the making.
What are the main events, which have transpired
since then, Yuri Kasparov went on to say. “As a result of transformations
(perestroika) of the 90’s, the arts have become commercialized and have
largely forfeited the state’s generous financial support. As a result,
many interesting projects have become stalled or completely discarded.
It is possible that other tools to spread modern arts are in order, but
they need to be found. We need to promote modern music in concert halls
and with the listeners and let it be taken on its merit.
There is a widespread belief that few innovative
compositions emerge these days and our reporter asked Yuri Kasparov whether
he feels that the modern repertoire is lacking.
His answer is unexpected and the musician denies
this. “We play both Russian and foreign-composed music, by middle-aged
composers, and particularly, by many Russian composers. Dmitri Kurlyandski,
for example, last year was awarded top honors at a very prestigious competition,
called “Gaudeamus» among young composers, held in Amsterdam. Ours
is a very strong school. As a rule, our young composers are educated in
Moscow and subsequently complete their education abroad. This is a very
essential element because, although our schooling is quite strong, it suffers
from conservatism. And it is a very heartening fact of life that, while
in the 90 our musicians went abroad for studies and never returned, now
they are all flocking back home. In my view, this is a very heartening
symptom. Overall, I believe that things have changed for the better after
2000. Philharmonics around the country have become more active. Opera theaters
have become more interesting.”
You mentioned that more people now attend your concerts…
“Yes, this is absolutely true. And I can prove it. Yekaterinburg,
Magnitogorsk, Petrozavodsk, Krasnodar, to say nothing of St. Petersburg
– these are all cities where we see enchanted audiences at our concerts
and hold disputes with them. Sometimes those disputes last for two hours,
just as the concerts themselves. And Yuri Kasparov concludes: “What I now
observe about Russia’s musical life, Russia’s listening audiences makes
me very optimistic”.
NATALYA NESTEROVA’S PAINTINGS
By T. Zavyalova
The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow
last January featured a personal art exposition of Natalya Nesterova –
a renowned Russian artist, an academic of the Russian Arts Academy and
laureate of the “Triumph” award. The exposition which displays more than
50 paintings is made up largely of her latest works but it is also notable
for its retrospective trends. And earlier period of her works of art is
pointed up by paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery’s stocks. Two-thirds
of works in this exposition arrived from New York. They were painted by
Ms.Nesterova in four countries of the world – in the United States, Belgium,
Italy and France. For 12 years has Alexander Gertzman – an arts expert
and collector gathered them. And now Moscow arts viewers can appreciate
what Ms. Nesterova has created for twenty years abroad.
Natalya Nesterova is believed
to be an artist who remained dedicated to the world imagery she encountered
in her youth which under exterior reserve, sometimes even seeming austerity
of expressive techniques, displays a profound emotional effort. For nearly
forty years has Ms. Nesterova produced large canvasses with a minimal subject
matter and fills them with significant symbols and metaphors being mostly
interested in eternal philosophical matters of being and cognition, rather
than emotional experiences of a particular personality. Here is an example
of her famed canvas “Gogol’s House” painted in 1979, which is a manifest
of Ms. Nesterova’s earlier creation. Quite stunning is her latest collections
dedicated to New York’s parks – Summer, Autumn and Winter parks and her
canvas named “Reflections” painted in 2001.
Natalya Nesterova also addressed
biblical and genre themes and she captured on her canvasses a whole series
of images from her childhood.
Children, dressed in sailors’
outfits, which were quite popular in the early 20’s, are captured playing
long-forgotten games of chekharda (leapfrog), hoop, serso (grace). She
has also produced a series of so-called “Card-players” canvasses full of
various suits and players, not gamblers, but simply hilarious. Natalya
Nesterova, however, takes care to avoid focusing on facial features of
her characters, doing it in mild brushes and using masks instead. She says:
“There was a moment when I covered them up because it seemed to me that
I duplicate similar faces. And now I regret that I reopened them again.
Perhaps I uncovered an enigma which is always more interesting when covered.
I have reached an age in which nothing can really surprise me. And the
same things attract me as in my youth – the epoch of Renaissance.
Natalya Nesterova is frequently relegated
to Russian artists of the non-conformist 70-s decade, although she
herself was never associated with any creative unions or groups of that
time. She always followed her own peculiar path. And today art critics
and art experts refer to her frequently as a classic, having in mind her
painting mastership, while she herself notes: “I completely refuse to regard
myself as a classic and maybe critics surmise by such references my age
brackets. For me what I have done is so imperfect that I always want to
do it all over again, to change it and do much better”.
It would be necessary
to point out, in particular, to the arrangement of Natalya Nesterova’s
exposition in the Tretyakov Gallery. Curator Nina Chudova divided the large
exposition space into triangular halls, therefore the viewers, while inspecting
the expo, will see the canvasses from various angles.
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01/31/2005
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