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"Listening to Russian Music in Putin's Shadow"
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Chris J.
Mar 25, 2022, 2:21:04 PM3/25/22
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On the morning of August 21, 1968, Warsaw Pact tanks rolled into Wenceslas
Square, in Prague, completing an overnight Soviet-led invasion of
Czechoslovakia. Alexander Dubček, the liberal-minded leader of the Czech
government, was detained and flown to Moscow. That evening, in London,
the U.S.S.R. State Symphony, under the direction of Yevgeny Svetlanov,
gave a concert at Royal Albert Hall, as part of the BBC Proms. Shouts of
protest were heard at the outset of each work on the program. Mstislav
Rostropovich, who was to leave the Soviet Union six years later, broke
into tears as he played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, a landmark of Czech
music. The second half of the concert was given over to Shostakovich’s
Tenth Symphony, a monumental oration by the living titan of Soviet
composers. Noise from the audience carried over into the first bars of
the work; then silence fell. Fifty minutes later, a roar of applause
followed the frenzied final bars of the symphony.
Such scenes were fairly routine in classical music through most of the
twentieth century, as one country or another took its turn in the role of
arch-villain on the international stage. Today, the Russian invasion of
Ukraine has created a cultural panic of a kind that has not been seen in
generations.
...
As time passes, the artist’s private world merges with the worlds of its
listeners. It no longer belongs to one land or one time.
Full article:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/listening-to-russian-
music-in-putins-shadow
The mad Mafia boss in the Kremlin:
"They're now engaging in the cancel culture, even removing Tchaikovsky,
Shostakovich and Rachmaninov from posters. Russian writers and books are
now cancelled"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/25/putin-says-west-treating-
russian-culture-like-cancelled-jk-rowling
Chris
Square, in Prague, completing an overnight Soviet-led invasion of
Czechoslovakia. Alexander Dubček, the liberal-minded leader of the Czech
government, was detained and flown to Moscow. That evening, in London,
the U.S.S.R. State Symphony, under the direction of Yevgeny Svetlanov,
gave a concert at Royal Albert Hall, as part of the BBC Proms. Shouts of
protest were heard at the outset of each work on the program. Mstislav
Rostropovich, who was to leave the Soviet Union six years later, broke
into tears as he played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, a landmark of Czech
music. The second half of the concert was given over to Shostakovich’s
Tenth Symphony, a monumental oration by the living titan of Soviet
composers. Noise from the audience carried over into the first bars of
the work; then silence fell. Fifty minutes later, a roar of applause
followed the frenzied final bars of the symphony.
Such scenes were fairly routine in classical music through most of the
twentieth century, as one country or another took its turn in the role of
arch-villain on the international stage. Today, the Russian invasion of
Ukraine has created a cultural panic of a kind that has not been seen in
generations.
...
As time passes, the artist’s private world merges with the worlds of its
listeners. It no longer belongs to one land or one time.
Full article:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/listening-to-russian-
music-in-putins-shadow
The mad Mafia boss in the Kremlin:
"They're now engaging in the cancel culture, even removing Tchaikovsky,
Shostakovich and Rachmaninov from posters. Russian writers and books are
now cancelled"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/25/putin-says-west-treating-
russian-culture-like-cancelled-jk-rowling
Chris
Néstor Castiglione
Mar 25, 2022, 2:49:47 PM3/25/22
to
2.) One can dislike Putin, but still find that his observations (at least for a moment) were correct. An organization I write program notes for abruptly pulled a Russian work from a forthcoming concert, fearing that its performance would incite anger from some patrons. Excessively cautious though they may have acted, I doubt whether their decision was unique. The Cardiff fracas made headlines, partly because it was handled so poorly. But I'm certain that there were a number of cases, such as with my aforementioned organization, that slipped by unnoticed.
Bob Harper
Mar 25, 2022, 8:03:04 PM3/25/22
to
On 3/25/22 11:49 AM, Néstor Castiglione wrote:
> 1.) That live Shostakovich 10 with Svetlanov isn't very good. Performance itself is unfocused and hampered by diffuse sonics. Listeners expecting a "sense of occasion" are in for disappointment. As for Ross' comments, well, yeah. I wouldn't call the phenomenon that transpired earlier this month (it feels like forever ago already!) a "cultural panic" so much as "mass hysteria." It was pretty bad at its height, maybe worse than the days of "freedom fries" and the anti-French hysteria that swept the country about 20 years ago. Social media encourages this sort of thing, of course.
>
> 2.) One can dislike Putin, but still find that his observations (at least for a moment) were correct. An organization I write program notes for abruptly pulled a Russian work from a forthcoming concert, fearing that its performance would incite anger from some patrons. Excessively cautious though they may have acted, I doubt whether their decision was unique. The Cardiff fracas made headlines, partly because it was handled so poorly. But I'm certain that there were a number of cases, such as with my aforementioned organization, that slipped by unnoticed.
I agree with you about the hysteria. Tchaikovsky? Really? I am, however,
> 1.) That live Shostakovich 10 with Svetlanov isn't very good. Performance itself is unfocused and hampered by diffuse sonics. Listeners expecting a "sense of occasion" are in for disappointment. As for Ross' comments, well, yeah. I wouldn't call the phenomenon that transpired earlier this month (it feels like forever ago already!) a "cultural panic" so much as "mass hysteria." It was pretty bad at its height, maybe worse than the days of "freedom fries" and the anti-French hysteria that swept the country about 20 years ago. Social media encourages this sort of thing, of course.
>
> 2.) One can dislike Putin, but still find that his observations (at least for a moment) were correct. An organization I write program notes for abruptly pulled a Russian work from a forthcoming concert, fearing that its performance would incite anger from some patrons. Excessively cautious though they may have acted, I doubt whether their decision was unique. The Cardiff fracas made headlines, partly because it was handled so poorly. But I'm certain that there were a number of cases, such as with my aforementioned organization, that slipped by unnoticed.
puzzled by the first sentence of your #2. Can you elucidate?
Bob Harper
Néstor Castiglione
Mar 25, 2022, 8:25:29 PM3/25/22
to
Message has been deleted
Dan Koren
Mar 25, 2022, 9:47:08 PM3/25/22
to
On Friday, March 25, 2022 at 5:25:29 PM UTC-7, Néstor Castiglione wrote:
>
> If one has a certain opinion, then finds
> that somebody else they dislike also
> shares it, that coincidence in and of
> itself doesn't necessarily make that
> opinion less valid. For example, if Vlad
> started going on about how much he
> loves his steak cooked rare, I'm not
> going to suddenly start eating mine
> well-done out of spite.
One could give up eating steaks altogether!
>
> If one has a certain opinion, then finds
> that somebody else they dislike also
> shares it, that coincidence in and of
> itself doesn't necessarily make that
> opinion less valid. For example, if Vlad
> started going on about how much he
> loves his steak cooked rare, I'm not
> going to suddenly start eating mine
> well-done out of spite.
dk
Néstor Castiglione
Mar 25, 2022, 10:24:44 PM3/25/22
to
Dan Koren
Mar 28, 2022, 9:45:00 PM3/28/22
to
On Friday, March 25, 2022 at 7:24:44 PM UTC-7, Néstor Castiglione wrote:
> On Friday, March 25, 2022 at 6:47:08 PM UTC-7, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Friday, March 25, 2022 at 5:25:29 PM UTC-7, Néstor Castiglione wrote:
> > >
> > > If one has a certain opinion, then finds
> > > that somebody else they dislike also
> > > shares it, that coincidence in and of
> > > itself doesn't necessarily make that
> > > opinion less valid. For example, if Vlad
> > > started going on about how much he
> > > loves his steak cooked rare, I'm not
> > > going to suddenly start eating mine
> > > well-done out of spite.
> >
> > One could give up eating steaks altogether!
>
> On Friday, March 25, 2022 at 6:47:08 PM UTC-7, dan....@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Friday, March 25, 2022 at 5:25:29 PM UTC-7, Néstor Castiglione wrote:
> > >
> > > If one has a certain opinion, then finds
> > > that somebody else they dislike also
> > > shares it, that coincidence in and of
> > > itself doesn't necessarily make that
> > > opinion less valid. For example, if Vlad
> > > started going on about how much he
> > > loves his steak cooked rare, I'm not
> > > going to suddenly start eating mine
> > > well-done out of spite.
> >
> > One could give up eating steaks altogether!
>
> I've read that Pootie-Poot is pescatarian, but
> mostly abstains from meat, preferring fruits
> and veggies instead. :(
If true that would certainly explain his need
> mostly abstains from meat, preferring fruits
> and veggies instead. :(
for Crimea! ;-)
dk
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