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OUR CORRESPONDENTS INFORM:

• IN MEMORY OF GEORGY SVIRIDOV
• RUSSIAN CULTURAL JUBILEES ON UNESCO LIST
• INAUGURATION OF "CULTURE" TV CHANNEL - A MAJOR EVENT OF 1997
• THE BOLSHOI: NEW PLANS BASED ON OLD SUCCESSES
• RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
• FROM BOOKER TO ANTIBOOKER

IN MEMORY OF GEORGY SVIRIDOV

L.Roschina reports:
The celebrated Russian composer Georgy Sviridov died Monday night in Moscow at the age of 82. His death is a great loss for musicians and music lovers.
Sviridov was a link between times and eras in Russian history. His sense of deep ethnic roots, his ability to use contemporary musical language to express the hopes, expectations, joys and sorrows of the Russian people was exceptional. Georgy Sviridov was regarded as a classic in his lifetime. His preference was vocal music based on poetry. The composer had his own way to reveal the meaning of works by the coryphaei of Russian poetry: Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Blok, Nekrasov, Pasternak. He considerably renovated and transformed the traditional vocal and vocalic symphony genres: oratorio, cantata, lyric. Widely-known are his vocalic symphonies "Pushkin's Wreath", "Pathetic Oratorio", "Snowfall", "Songs of Kursk".
He was a talented pupil of Shostakovich who called him the pride of Russian music. He has received many awards. In 1997 he won the presidential prize.
Here's what the leader of Moscow's Chamber Choir Vladimir Minin, who was a friend of Georgy Sviridov for over 40 years and the first interpreter of many of his works, has to say:
"I associate Sviridov's music with the ideal man must always seek. I have never heard the expression of evil in Sviridov's music, which always reflects good. That is why his music is so popular. When presenting works by Sviridov abroad, I always witness their success. The representatives of any nation regard music by Georgy Sviridov as reflecting the eternal Russia, which, in defiance of all cataclysms and metamorphoses, is the inner world of Russian character".
Sviridov went down in the history of Russian and world culture.

RUSSIAN CULTURAL JUBILEES ON UNESCO LIST

In the cultural life of any country every year marks some jubilee. In Russia, with its rich cultural legacy, there are several such jubilees as a rule. The anniversaries of world importance are celebrated under the auspices of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
There are five anniversaries to be marked this year. They are connected with outstanding Russian cultural workers the nation can rightfully be proud of. One of these is the 100th birth anniversary of the film director Sergey Eisenstein who made the historic Battleship Potemkin in 1925, the picture that stands first in the top ten films of all times. Eisenstein brought to cinematography such notions as rhythm, dynamics, editing, and the tragic aura of this century.

There are more 100th anniversaries in Russia's cultural life. 100 years ago the Arts Theater in Moscow, the Russian Museum in St.Petersburg, and the literature-and-arts association "World of Arts" were founded. All these jubilees have been noted by UNESCO, and we'll tell you why.
The Moscow-based Arts Theater is not simply an excellent company of actors created by the great stage director Konstantin Stanislavsky. This is a totally new approach to the art of theater, a new method of creating images - the method of deep penetration in the essence of human passions and characters. In short, the Arts Theater is the embodied Stanislavsky "system" used by the world of theater to this day.
The Russian Museum in St.Petersburg... It can be compared only with Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery in terms of the wealth of its collection of paintings, sculptures, prints. The museum displays masterpieces by Russian artists, from the great 14th-century icon painter Andrey Rubliov to today's master Mikhail Shemyakin.

The literature-and-arts association "World of Arts" signifies the beginning of Russian symbolism, Russian modernism. It sponsored the famous "Russian Seasons" in Paris held by its founder, patron of arts Sergey Dyagilev to present artists Alexander Benua, Leo Bakst, Ivan Bilibin to Europe.

100 years of history stand behind all this. There is another jubilee from the UNESCO list marked this year - the 600th anniversary of the Ferapont Monastery. The cloister in the north of Russia, a sacred place for the Orthodox Church, has preserved a miracle of old Russian arts - 15th-century frescoes by Dionisy.

INAUGURATION OF "CULTURE" TV CHANNEL - A MAJOR EVENT OF 1997

It's traditional to recall the major events of the year that just ended. For Russia's cultural workers one such event was the opening of the "Culture" TV channel.
In fact in the former Soviet Union the entire television was a big cultural channel. To educate people on the best examples of high arts was part of the communist ideology.
In the late 1980s all that changed. With free-market relations rating became the main index of success, and since the rating of cultural themes is lower than that of modern shows and serials, the former became to gradually disap- pear.
At first Russian TV viewers failed to notice this: they rejoiced in the freedom that flooded television screens - in the freedom of speech, in the western films, including erotic, they had not seen, and even in commercials. However by and by these new things began to irritate, and the viewers became nostalgic for the good old times and for boadcasts made in good taste, in the good Russian literary language. After all the Russians cannot live without spiritual nourishment.
These sentiments were felt particularly keenly by none other than President Boris Yeltsin, who made a rather unexpected move last summer - he announced the introduction of a new state-sponsored TV channel - "Culture". At first the response was skeptical: many claimed that its rating would be on the level of 2 to 3 percent, the government's money would not last long, and the new channel would slide onto the common commercial course. However such predictions have not materialized so far. On the contrary, in the very first month the new channel's rating proved to be higher than expected - 6 percent. But the essential thing is that the new channel's audience includes not only highbrow intellectuals, but also the ordinary people who missed televised theater performances, good-quality documentaries and feature films and talks with interesting celebrities - researchers, actors, artists.
Thanks to the new channel TV viewers even in the country's remote areas can see the capital's premieres, festivals and concerts. For instance, last December the channel treated its viewers to a premiere in the Bolshoi Theater, the ballet "Giselle", and to the concert given in the Moscow Conservatory by the well-known composer Rodion Schedrin. It's a long time since we heard him play piano. The maestro played solo in his own Piano Concerto.

THE BOLSHOI: NEW PLANS BASED ON OLD SUCCESSES

Last year was rich in events for the country's main musical theater, the Bolshoi.
One of Russia's oldest theaters, the Bolshoi has invariably attracted the attention of those who love the art of opera and ballet. The premiere of Sergey Prokofiev's "Love for Three Oranges" was a major event in the present, the 222nd season. The opera was staged by the well-known British producer Peter Ustinov. As a matter of fact, joint international projects have been a distinctive mark in the life of the Bolshoi Theater in the past few years. Witness the New Year's premiere of Adam's "Giselle". The costumes for it were made under the designs of Yuber Givanchy, a prominent French couturier. The ballet was staged by the celebrated choreographer Vladimir Vasiliev, the theater's stage director, who imbued his work with a spirit of romanticism and poetry.

To present a fresh work on New Year's eve is a tradition at the Bolshoi. Last year it presented a new version of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake". And last December, in addition to "Giselle", the theater introduced a new international program of short ballets. Here's what Vladimir Vasiliev said with reference to the forthcoming premieres:
We are planning to present on December 25 new ballets based on Maurice Bejart's choreography: "Merry Paris", "Le Sacre du Printemps" by Igor Stravinsky, "Romeo and Juliet" by Sergey Prokofiev. He is happy, Vasiliev said, when the Bolshoi gives premieres, and he is prepared to cooperate with both young and venerable masters.
As for the short-term plans, they include one-act ballets with the participation of Nina Ananiashvili under the choreography of George Balanchin and Mikhail Fokin. The opera premieres include Sergey Rakhmaninov's "Francesca da Rimini", Rimsky-Korsakov's "Mozart and Salieri", and "Salome" by Richard Strauss. Now let's return to "Giselle" and hear a waltz from that ballet.

RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA

N.Pronina reports:
The Russian National Orchestra belongs to the world's ten best orchestras,most of which were founded more than 100 years ago. This is a unique company, the only private orchestra of such a scale in this country. This is the only symphony orchestra in Russia that is not state funded. It is completely independent. It has never experienced a lack of sponsors. The International Trustees' Council of the Russian National Orchestra includes the representatives of large foundations, banks and corporations from different countries.
The orchestra's senior conductor is Mikhail Pletniov, a celebrated pianist, who won the first prize at the 6th International Tchaikovsky Contest in Moscow. His credo is depth, boldness, enthusiasm and virtuosity.
The orchestra's new work is Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty". The orchestra's manager Sergey Markov says: "This is a new style for us, which displays the well-known classic Piotr Tchaikovsky in an unusual way. It is based largely on the mind, on philosophy, which is unusual and even slightly cold, like a cool starry sky. However it does not rule out emotions. How can one play Tchaikovsky without emotions?"
According to Markov, a very strong new idea pervades the performance. "The music reflects the state this country, which is painfully getting out of a long sleep, is in. Perhaps this is the image and voice of a new Russia, a nation to be? Listening to this music I saw the sleeping beauty, and her entire kingdom immersed in a sleep of oblivion, suddently wake up to the joy of life, as if the scales fell from her eyes," Markov says.

At the initiative of Maestro Pletniov the celebrated Moscow-based company has been touring Russian cities for over two years now. "I adore such trips," Mikhail Pletnion says. "When I see overcrowded halls and the uncommon attention of the public, the feeling of being useful is particularly strong. In the provinces the public perceives one's performance sincerely and profoundly. Classical music is capable of touching some strings in the Russian provincial soul so unusually that it moves, delights and inspires."
"Arts, classical music and ballet are what our country is competitive in," Sergey Markov says. "This is one of the reasons why I want to live and work in Russia. Many of us, including myself, love Russia, and have an extremely complex attitude to it. It's complicated to live here. But culture is something very interesting, since money is not everything. Man searches for different qualities in life. Mikhail Pletniov is a genius in music, who has gathered a brilliant orchestra, a unique team of musicians. I wish to utilize these resources of talent and the cultural traditions that are still strong in Russia."
The foreign press views Mikhail Pletniov's orchestra as a symbol of the new, free Russia.

FROM BOOKER TO ANTIBOOKER

Olga Bobrova reports: There are many literary prizes in Russia today, and this is gratifying. They are awarded by little-known literary journals and by prominent publishing houses, by mayoralties and national committees.
Prizes bear the names of literary celebrities of varying importance - from local to universal. Last year saw the institution of the "Autumn in Boldino" prize in honour of the 200th birth anniversary of the Russian classic - poet Alexander Pushkin.
The prizes are given sonorous names: "Landmarks" for contribution to the knowledge of history, or graceful ones - "Bronze Helix" for the development of science fiction.
Two literary prizes were instituted in December - Booker and Antibooker. Booker is a traditional British prize awarded to Russian writers too at the expense of its own funds. Antibooker is a Russian prize, whose name points out that Russian patrons of arts are also ready to support their country's literature. Antibooker includes four nominations, while Booker announces only one laureate. The British prize is awarded for previous year's publications, and the Russian for the current year's. This is the only difference. As for the rest, the two prizes are similar: both panels of judges do not proclaim their artistic biases - philosophical novels and detective stories can compete on an equitable basis.
The Booker prize was won by Anatoly Azolsky for his novel "The Cell" - an almost detective story describing the harassment of geneticists under the Stalin regime. The Antibooker prize was won by Dmitry Galkovsky for his philosophical work "The Infinite Deadlock". The book comprises 1500 pages. To describe its plot is impossible.
A member of the Antibooker panel of judges, Andrey Vasilevsky, says: "This is a book of extremely complicated structure, a book of annotations to a text that does not exist. Fresh annotations are made to these annotations, which forms an endless chain. Finally all gets so complicated, that the author supplements the book with a special index as to how to use it. However very few people can understand how to use that index."
Dmitry Galkovsky's book is a shocking composition, provocative in terms of the ordinary people's perception of everyday life, politics and religion. It's a scandalous book, and the panel of judges admits this.
Here's what another member of the panel of judges, Sergey Yesin, has to say: "This is an amazingly interesting reading for interesting persons, a breathtaking lacelike reading".

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