Book: Shostakovich and Stalin
Title: Shostakovich and Stalin
Author: Solomon Volkov
ISBN: 0375410821
Publisher: Knopf
Price: $30.00
Review: A sweeping history of the years of Stalin’s rule told through the accurate, but complex mirror of history: arts and culture. Dmitri Shostakovich was a small and unassuming young composer with an unbelievable passion for his music. Experimental qualities in his compositions garnered respect from not only the Russian intelligentsia, but also the west. However, the man who everyone in 20th century Russia begrudgingly called “uncle” was not interested in respect for the arts, but in adoration and the lull of cultural experience which could be transformed into political power. Unlike Lenin before him, Stalin understood the power of art and music in addition to rigid political tyranny.
For anyone interested in Russian history, Volkov paints a picture of Stalin that is rarely seen elsewhere. We catch surprising glimpses of the stone-faced leader’s heart in the passages describing his love for opera and film. Yet, despite his own preference, Stalin kept a tight fist and close eye on the Russian artists of the time. It was with Shostakovich’s Opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtensk” that the young composer became a high-profile enemy/voice of Russian society.
Shostakovich’s most groundbreaking opera was denounced as “Muddle Instead of Music” in Pravda for it’s anti-populist passages and formalist themes. From that point on, the artist’s passion was a matter of life or death. In reluctantly learning how to play the political game, Shostakovich went on to become one of Stalin’s musical darlings and even won the Stalin Prize twice. The compromises and restraint Shostakovich had to take led to physical and mental sickness and constant anxiety. However, all of the pressure may have led the composer to a greatness that he may never have reached otherwise.
Anyone interested in Russian literature, music or art will do well by reading this book. Frequent appearances by the likes of Pushkin, Pasternak, Tchaikovsky, Bulgakov, Dostoyevsky and others will bring life to the Russian art history classes you may have fell asleep in. Loose comparisons between the Stalin Prize and our own Presidential Medal of Freedom are brought to mind throughout the book. But most importantly, this dual biography is an essential exploration of the life of any struggling artist and the power artists can have over society and history as a whole.
Rating: 4.25 / 5
cover photo provided by a link to Amazon.com
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2 Comments:
Nice job, Kevin. Love your blogg. Knowing that you are a perfectionist, makes me bring up the fact that the Russian writer's correct name is spelled Bulgakov, not Bulgokov. And maybe it is jus my wrong impression, but I feel kind of a sympathy for the tyront hidden between the lines. I personally (and I think many would agree) don't care whether Stalin appreciated classical music, or not; the fact does not make him either a better person or a better leader of the coutry. It is worth to note, that the guy was directly responsible for killing and torturing more people than Hitler was.
Thanks for the feedback and the proofread. Typos abound when you write reviews every day.
I too, do not think that Stalin's passion for classical music makes him a better person. Only a more complex person than the black and white imagery of history textbooks would have us believe. And also more of a hypocrite than originally believed. When Stalin died, he had a recording of a Mozart concerto played by Russian Jew-turned-devout-Christian Maria Yudina on the turntable next to his bed. This was a woman who defied and insulted Stalin in letters and whose music was banned from Stalin's Russia, yet in his bedroom, the ban could be compromised.
Responsible for killing and torturing more people than Hitler? Absolutely. A despicable excuse for a human being? In my opinion, yes. But very human and very passionate about beautiful music. That, to me, is a glimpse into the possibility for any one of us on this planet to do horrible things. I care that Stalin appreciated classical music because it is an interesting representative connection between the passion of politics and art. Is the control an artist wants over his creative output so different than the control a tyrant wants over his people? Hitler was a passionate painter whose art sensibilities helped leed to the visual power of the Nazi state.
Stalin's actions may take precedence over his passions, but I believe that they are more intertwined than most would like to think.
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