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Russia after the Revolution

A sequence of readings and music from Russia in the last century, from banned early novels to futuristic post-Soviet writing and with music by Prokofiev and Schnittke.

A sequence of readings and music from Russia in the century since the revolution, ranging from writings banned in the early Soviet years (Bulgakov's surreal novel The Master and Marguerita) to the futuristic post-Soviet writing of Vladimir Sorokin. Music includes the two titans of the Stalin era, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, as well as the polystylistic blendings of light and serious music by Alfred Schnittke.
Readings by Henry Goodman and Dolya Gavanski.

Part of Radio 3's season Breaking Free: A Century of Russian Culture.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 5 Nov 2017 17:30
大象传媒 Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Alfred Schnittke

    Polka (from Revis Fairy Tale)

    Performer: Ksenija Siderova (accordion).
    • Champs Hill CHRCD019.
    • Tr10.

  • Mikhail Zoshchenko

    The Hat, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:00

    Sergey Prokofiev

    Repentance (from Summer Day, children聮s suite Op.65a)

    Performer: New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp.
    • Hyperion CDA66499.
    • Tr12.

  • Teffi (Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lokhvitskaya)

    Ganka the peasant girl (from Love), read by Dolya Gavanski

  • 00:00

    Trad

    Djelem

    Performer: Loyko.
    • Rough Guide RGNET 1107.
    • Tr4.

  • Yevgeny Yevtushenko, transl. by James Dickey with Anthony Kahn

    Ballad About Drinking, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:00

    Gliere

    Dance of the Soviet sailors from SS Apple (from The Red Poppy)

    Performer: Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra conducted by Yuri Fayer.
    • Olympia OCD202.
    • TR4.

  • Yuri Olesha

    the cooking commissar visits a workers聮 kitchen (Envy, Chapter 2) read by Dolya Gavanski

  • 00:00

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    String Quartet no.1 Op.49, 1st movement

    Performer: Brodsky Quartet.
    • Chandos CHAN109176.
    • CD1 Tr1.
  • 00:00

    Lev Knipper

    Song of the Plains

    Performer: Red Army Ensemble.
    • EMI 3920312.
    • Tr15.

  • John Vaillant

    tiger hunting in Eastern Russia (from The Tiger) read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:00

    Sergey Prokofiev

    The Quarrel (from Cinderella Suite no.1, Op.107)

    Performer: Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Neeme Jarvi.
    • Chandos CHAN7076.
    • Tr12.
  • 00:00

    Alfred Schnittke

    Love (from The Commissar)

    Performer: Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frank Strobel.
    • Capriccio C7196.
    • CD1 Tr12.

  • Mikhail Bulgakov (transl. Michael Glenny)

    the talking suit (from The Master And Margarita) read by Dolya Gavanski

  • 00:00

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony no.1 in F minor, Op.10, 2nd movement

    Performer: Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mark Wigglesworth.
    • BIS SACD 1603.
    • Tr2.

  • Alexander Solzhenitsyn (transl. Max Hayward, Manya Harari & Michael Glenny)

    the mock trial of Prince Igor (from The First Circle), read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:00

    Alexander Borodin

    Polovtsian Dances (from Prince Igor)

    Performer: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
    • Philips 412552-2.
    • Tr4.

  • Marina Tsvetaeva (transl. Elaine Feinstein)

    My Desk, read by Dolya Gavanski

  • 00:00

    Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky

    Blues in C major

    Performer: Vyacheslav Guyvoronsky (trumpet) and Vladimir Volkov (bass).
    • Golden Years GY401404.
    • CD1 Tr9.

  • Yevgeny Yevtushenko, transl. by James Dickey with Anthony Kahn

    Pitching and Reeling, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:00

    Mikael Tariverdiev

    Nocturne (from Olga Sergeevna)

    Performer: Mikael Tariverdiev (piano).
    • Earth Records EARTHCD020.
    • Tr12.

  • Ekaterina Sedia

    the Rusalki scene (from The Secret History of Moscow) read by Dolya Gavanski

  • 00:01

    Myaskovsky

    Symphony no.7 in B minor Op.24

    Performer: USSR Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leo Ginsburg.
    • Olympia OCD163.
    • Tr6.
  • 00:01

    Mikael Tariverdiev

    Moscow Morning ((from Olga Sergeevna)

    Performer: Mikael Tariverdiev (piano) and studio ensemble.
    • Earth Records EARTHCD020.
    • Tr14.

  • Victor Pelevin, transl. Andrew Bromfield

    trainee cosmonaut learns to use a moonwalker (from Omon Ra) read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:01

    Vangelis

    Deckard and Roy's Duel (from Bladerunner)

    • UMe B0010558-02.
    • CD2 Tr7.

  • Vladimir Sorokin, transl. Jamey Gambrell

    Moscow, 2028 聳 the Oprichnik buys cigarettes (from Day of the Oprichnik) read by Henry Goodman

Producer's Note

A selection of stories and episodes from life in Russia since the 1917 Revolution, ranging from the optimism of Mikhail Zoshchenko鈥檚 story of how rail travel has improved in the 1920s, to the bleak surrealism of Victor Pelevin鈥檚 story of a cosmonaut in training, whose equipment is clearly not up to spec for space travel.聽 Teffi鈥檚 narrator remembers, as a privileged young girl, admiring the peasant women who worked as gardeners; while a tougher life is described by a hunter who lived near Vladivostock in the far East , where tigers were hunted and shot for sale to Chinese apothecaries. <?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Solzhenitsyn鈥檚 novel of life in a 鈥渟pecial prison鈥� (for highly qualified political prisoners) The First Circle, provides a discussion of the legendary Russian hero, Prince Igor, who is found guilty of treason by the prisoners in a satirical mock trial.聽 Borodin鈥檚 majestic Polovtsian Dances from his opera Prince Igor sound rather different in this light.

Yevtushenko鈥檚 Ballad About Drinking聽 is a rollicking tale of what happens when a ship鈥檚 crew come ashore only to find that the vodka shop is closed; and a scene from Yuri Olesha鈥檚 quirky novel about an ambitious mass-catering manager sees him being ignominiously repelled from a workers鈥� kitchen.

One of the most famous Russian novels of the 20th century is Bulgakov鈥檚 satire The Master And Margarita (written in the 1930s but not published in Russia until the 1960s, and in a censored form).

The Devil is abroad in Moscow, and his sidekick Behemoth makes a businessman invisible (but his suit carries on working).

The fantastical vein continues in scenes from two recent novels 鈥� in Ekaterina Sedia鈥檚 The Secret History of Moscow, where the narrator is pulled under the ice of the Moscow River by water spirits; and in the dystopian future Russia depicted by Vladimir Sorokhin in his Day of the Oprichnik 鈥� the Oprichnik being a sort of official gangster force serving 鈥淗is Majesty鈥� - the Czar.

The music ranges from the revolutionary fervour of Gliere鈥檚 1927 ballet The Red Poppy to the more ambiguous zaniness of Shostakovich鈥檚 first symphony and Prokofiev鈥檚 Cinderella. Alfred Schnittke鈥檚 polka has a desperate stop-start jollity; while darker moods are invoked by Guyvoronsky鈥檚 smoky Blues for trumpet, and Tariverdiev鈥檚 chilly Moscow Morning.

Producer: Philip Tagney

Broadcast

  • Sun 5 Nov 2017 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

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