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From:  Sally Collyer <scol8413@m...>
Sally Collyer <scol8413@m...>
Date:  Tue Jun 26, 2001  12:52 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Re: Galina Vishnevskaya



>and friend to Solzhynitsen.

Also to Shostakovich. In "Galina" is her very interesting description of
his dedication to her of "Satires" (Op 109). I quote:

In the summer of 1960, Shostakovich called us to his place and asked us to
listen to his new work, a song cycle called 'Satires' based on the verse of
Sasha Cherny, a pre-revolutionary satirical poet. Shostakovich himself
played and sang, while Slava [Rostropovich] and I remained rooted to our
chairs, overwhelmed by the unimpeded flow of sarcasm and black humour.
"Do you like it, Galya?"
I could only whisper, "Dmitri Dmitriyevich, it's phenomenal."
"I wrote it for you in the hope you wouldn't decline to sing it."
"Decline?" I was hoarse with excitement. Dmitri Dmitriyevich got up from
the piano, took the music and, before handing it to me, said "If you don't
object, I'd like to dedicate this work to you." He wrote in the manuscript:
'Dedicated to Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya' and made me a gift of it.
A few days later we performed the new work for Dmitri
Dmitriyevich. "Remarkable! Simply remarkable! There's just one thing:
I'm afraid they won't let it be performed."
And he was right. One of the poems was 'Our posterity'. Though written in
1910, it had recently been published in the Soviet Union. Yet with the
music of Shostakovich, it took on an entirely different meaning - it became
an indictment of the current Soviet regime and its insane ideology.
It was clear the authorities would not allow such verse ot be sung on
stage. The words refer to today and could not be said better. I had an
idea. "Dmitri Dmitriyevich, instead of calling the cycle 'Satires', call it
'Pictures of the past'. Throw them that bone and they might sanction it."
He was satisfied, and snickered at the irony of it. "Beautifully though
out, Galya! Under 'Satires', we'll put 'Pictures of the past' in
parentheses, like a kind of fig leaf. We'll cover up the embarrassing
parts for them."
In that way, the cycle got its name. But we were never sure, right up
until the time of the concert, that they wouldn't take it off the
program. The authorisation came only at the last minute.
On the evening of February 22 1961, the concert hall was jammed with
people. All of Moscow waited impatiently for Shostakovich's new work with
the seditious verses. AS I began 'Our posterity', I could see that the
audience was taut with tension. Stalin's and Beria's crimes were being
exposed; the verses were hitting bull's-eye.
When I finished, the audience did not so much shout as roar.
Soon after the premiere, Slava and I were invited to perform the cycle on
Moscow television. We went to the studio, although I told Slava at the
time that they would never let us do 'Our posterity'. We started to
rehearse. Then suddenly, stop! The producer of the show came running in,
asked for the music, and read through it as frightened as if he
were holding a live cobra. Without a word, he ran off. When he came back,
he said, "Galina Pavlovna, the cycle is very long, and our time is
short. We'll have to cut something."
"What do you mean, 'cut'? It's a cycle - all the pieces are
interrelated. We won't cut anything. Go wherever it is you're supposed to
go and tell them that either we do the whole cycle or we won't do it at all."
Once again he ran off, this time for quite a while. Slava and I waited a
little, then put on our coats, sent them all to the devill, and went
home. The cycle was never aired.


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