ARTS AND CRAFTS Here there are two separate and distinct periods: before and after 1800. Before 1800, creativity related mostly to religion, in the form of icons, and to peasant music, which was not written down and was merely passed down orally through generations. After 1800 began an accelerated Renaissance-like absorption and development of all the major disciplines, which was the result of: 1) Catherine the Great’s links to France between 1762 and 1796 and 2) The large number of French aristocrats who fled their Revolution in 1789 and moved to Russia. All the while, there was still a distinct pagan/peasant influence which kept Russian artists mostly separated from Europe in the eyes of the critics well into the late 1800’s. This carried on until 1918, when Russian creativity broke into 2 distinct camps: 1) Conscripted Socialist Realism, practiced by those who stayed in The USSR and 2) the independent work of those few, comparatively, who left. The latter include the composer Stravinsky (he had actually left a bit earlier, in 1912), the artist Kandinsky, and the novelist Nabokov. Very few who left ever returned, such as Prokopiev. Many artists in the USSR tried to maintain a outwardly-hidden sense of creativity outside Socialist Realism, like the poet Akhmatova, the writers Bulgakov and Pasternak, and the composers Shastakovich and Schnitki. Very few have used their earlier, USSR-era art training to achieve success outside of Russia, like the artist and sculptor Shemiyakin. Russian Ballet, established well over 100 years ago, remains at the top in classical style, specializing in favorites like Swan Lake and The Nutcracker Suite. Special notice is due the greatest Russian bard, Vladimir Vysotsky. He acted and sang during the 1960’s and 70’s, and he best typifies the real beauty and struggles of life in the Soviet Union, cast in a greater perspective. No one better understood the Russian soul. Under the protection of Brezhnev, who loved his singing, Vysotsky spent a great deal of time going back and forth between France and the U.S.A.,
marvelling at the contrasts. His inability to reconcile East and West ultimately made his alcoholism worse and he died way too young at 44. Since 1991, many Russians have toured the international stage individually with great success but one group deserves special commendation: The Russian National Symphony Orchestra. It was formed by the pianist/composer Michael Pletnev and is a compilation of the best players from all of the symphony orchestras extant in the USSR up to 1991. This orchestra interprets Russian composers like no other. To hear a good example of truly Russian classical music, try Rachmaninoff’s 2nd symphony, ONLY as performed by The Russian National Symphony Orchestra---universally panned by Western music critics structurally but is a clear example of soaring and emotive Russian musical imagery. Generally, the arts and crafts have not fared well since 1991 due to the loss of State subsidies and very little philanthropy. Most creative types are poor, and the attitude towards poverty in Russia is not a happy one. But the masses love the arts, are avid readers and especially, they love poetry. Finally, a story must be told. It may be true, it may not be true. It can’t be proven conclusively but because it involves an intensely personal and private man, a man considered to be one of the most important in the last 100 years, Stalin, it has to be told. It is a story told through art, and could really be a window into the great tyrant’s soul. The story comes in reference to the life of the composer Shastakovich, and it goes that one evening in 1948, on the radio, Stalin heard Mozart’s #23 piano concerto played live by an orchestra. He liked it so much that he ordered the orchestra to make a recording for him that evening. The story continues that in the room where Stalin died in March of 1953, this record was on his record player. So, maybe, understanding this #23 helps to understand the man---and indeed, it could. It may be interpreted as the story of Stalin’s entire life told through music. Stalin is the pianist, of course. In the first part, there is practically no piano. This part represents Stalin’s life through 1914 or so. He was meaningless. The second part is a slow, maudlin, listless, and murky interaction between the piano and the orchestra, representing Stalin’s rise to power through 1929. In the last part, the piano is dominating and the orchestra follows. This represents the final chapter of Stalin’s life from 1929 on, when he was in absolute control. Art and creativity are integral to Russian culture, and the Russian people are extremely feeling, creative, and talented.