Boris Pasternak to get monument in Moscow
Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), Nobel Prize-winning poet and author
The first monument to the Nobel Prize-winning poet and writer Boris Pasternak will shortly appear in the centre of Moscow. A full-sized bronze figure of Boris Pasternak will be placed near the house where the poet lived for 10 years. It is where he wrote his famous novel Doctor Zhivago. A contest has just been announced for the best design of the monument to Boris Pasternak.
22 July 2008
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29999&cid=51&p=22.07.2008 (in English)
The Days of Queen Olga in Germany
A Portrait of Queen Olga of Württemberg (Franz Xavier Winterhalter, 1865)
One of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany, Baden-Württemberg, will for the first time host The Days of Queen Olga. It is a series of cultural events in the memory of Russian Grand Princess Olga Nikolaevna (1822-1892), the daughter of Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich, who later became Queen Consort of Württemberg when she married Prince Karl Friedrich in 1846 (ruled as king, 1864-90), organised by the Fund of Russian-speaking citizens of Germany Our New Names.
23 July 2008
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=30019&cid=87&p=23.07.2008 (in English)
The Brothers Karamazov Opera in St Petersburg
One of the greatest Russian novels of 19th century, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, was staged as opera in an adaptation by a composer from St Petersburg, Aleksandr Smelkov. The première took place as a part of the Stars of the White Nights International Festival.
23 July 2008
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=30019&cid=87&p=23.07.2008 (in English)
Great Waltz Festival in St Petersburg
The 7th International Great Waltz Music Festival took place in the Winter Palace of the State Hermitage in St Petersburg. Seven years ago, the forum marked the revival of the tradition of the famous Pavlov Musical Seasons. In the middle of the 19th century, the young Austrian violinist, conductor, and composer Johann Strauss performed there. In all, there were 11 concerts, exactly the same number of times that Strauss had been to St Petersburg in the summer. Prominent Russian and Austrian opera and operetta singers together with conductors and musicians took part in the festival.
Yekaterina Semenchuk, a soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre, said, “The concert dubbed ‘The Roads of Love’ presented the cream of the opera classics. We, the soloists, narrated the stories of women guided by the strength of love through their lives. Johann Strauss is one of the favourite composers of many Russian music lovers. it is difficult to imagine the musical heritage without his ingenious melodies. The image of sunny Vienna, full of love and live music, was here, in St Petersburg, for everyone who attended the festival. Strauss can easily be called a Russian composer as he created his best pieces in Petersburg”. The festival closed with a series of “encores”, which resulted in a separate final concert. This is an old tradition, when artists and musicians sing and play Johann Strauss once again on the last day of the festival.
25 July 2008
Anatoly Novosyolov
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=30097&cid=51&p=25.07.2008 (in English)
Voice of Russia World Service
