Open the Year Round The many pavilions at this Exhibition, which show nearly all that the Russian produces — from the tiniest semi-conductor to colossal space ships — are hospitably open in summer and winter. A trip through the grounds will provide a detailed picture of modern levels achieved in one or another branch of…
Time for Study In winter as you well know, the school and academic year is in full being. It is the best season to find out what the Soviet educational system is like. Soviet people thirst tremendously for knowledge. One of every four studies in one way or other. And among the students you find…
At the Fireside There are many memorial museums in Moscow and its environs, which are open the year round and which relate of the life and work of well-known revolutionaries, writers and composer Leo Tolstoy. Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Mayakovski and Gorky memorial apartments. Suburban estates are particularly lovely and lyrical in winter providing a picture of…
Jack Frost the Painter On a frosty day, when the mercury is down to 20 below, the city seems transformed. Spiky hoarfrost covers the trees and railings. The low-riding sun lends the haze a pinkish glow. The sight is so magnificent that one involuntarily stops short to admire this marvel of nature. You may see…
New Year Fir Tree There is long and loud applause from an audience of 20,000 as the Russian white-bearded Jack Frost in long cloak and fur hat rides out onto the vast stage of ice, in the middle of which stands a 20-m high fir-tree scintillating with lights. With him is the charming Snow-maiden. Spectators…
Walking along the Embankment Moscow — the Russian word is Moskva — stands on a river that bears the same name. Incidentally, nowhere in Europe will you find a capital standing on a river of the same name. Rome, London and Paris stand on the Tiber, the Thames and the Seine. Only Moscow has this…
Red Square Take a good look at the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin. Its buildings stand on a steep hill, washed at the foot by the Moskva River. Behind the turreted crenelated walls overlooking the bank, stand the cathedrals, palaces and bell-towers whose sky-piercing silhouette imparts a sunny grace. One begins sightseeing in Moscow, as…
South-West, a new residential district in Moscow What does a Russian city look like? It is not so crowded as a European city. The houses, which, as a rule, are from six to ten storeys high — true there are still some still taller buildings — are freely arranged with broad thoroughfares between blocks. Squares…
Festival of Art In winter time the Russian theatre season is in full swing. All play houses are open and you are sure to meet your favorite actors. The Russian theatrical season has its own characteristic feature. It is a time when bright posters bill the names of young playwrights, directors and actors of ambitious…
Indeed, a peep through the port-hole at the fields and forests already gives you a glimpse of the Russian landscape. There is nothing in the way of rocky mountains or endless vacant fields in Russia. Winter time in Central Russia is a harmonious blend of woods — usually of white birches, slim pines and the…
It is really hard to say when winter begins in the Russia. In the north and in Siberia the temperature may be way below zero, while in the south it is still warm and at the Black Sea health resorts of Sochi holiday makers sun-tan on the beaches. After all, the Russia is the world’s…
Pushkin in Moldavia. The name of Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), the great Russian poet and founder of the new Russian literature, is closely linked with Moldavia. The significance of Pushkin’s works and his towering genius place him among the outstanding figures of world culture. In his quarter-century of writing, Pushkin, assimilating the achievements of Russian and…
The Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Alexander II in the battlefield.
Coronation of Alexander II in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. 1856
The upbringing of the Grand Duke. V.A. Zhukovsky and the successor to the throne (Alexander II)
Reproduction of the portrait “Emperor Alexander II is a liberator of the Christians in the East”. A cheap popular prim. Chromolithograph. The Museum of the Russian Literature Institute in Saint Petersburg. Alexander II is Emperor of Russia. His reign was marked by a number of reforms which touched on nearly all units of state power,…
And the Pike implored again: “Emelya, let me go into the water, and I’ll do anything you wish”. “All right, only first you must prove you aren’t trying to fool me, then I’ll let you go”. As the Pike Wills (after A. Tolstoi)
К. Briullov (1799—1852) О. Fersen Riding a Donkey. 1835 Water-colour. 52.5×40 cm The Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg
In Russian literature, too, we find very characteristic and vivid examples of such creativity. There are the sophisticated baroque work of Simeon of Polotsk and the political caricatures of Archpriest Avvakum (seventeenth century); the monumental mosaic compositions of Lomonosov (eighteenth century); the romantic landscapes of Zhukovsky and Baratynsky; the elegiac landscapes of Batyushkov; Gogol’s architectural…
Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev were the star-crossed lovers in Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet during the Royal Ballet’s tour of the United States.
The importance of Beethoven’s sonatas as of a sort of “creative laboratory” in which the composer developed the fundamentals of his style is generally recognized. It was in this form that Beethoven mastered the dialectical method, moulded his themes and reached unprecedented heights in the development of musical ideas and images. Many of his piano…
The symphonic suite “Scheherazade” written by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in 1883 is one of the masterpieces of Russian classical music on Oriental themes. The suite is based on the “Arabian Nights”. The composer originally gave subtitles to individual parts of the suite, but later deleted them and left ony the title and the general programme.…
The First Symphony, begun in March of 1866, was done anew by the composers twice. In this new (already third!) editing “Winter Dreams” was soon presented to the Moscow audience. Its premiere was given by the Russian Musical Society on February 3, 1868, under the baton of N. Rubinstein. “…The performance signified Tchaikovsky’s first outstanding…
During the summer of 1788 Wolfgang Mozart composed three symphonies representing the acme of the symphonic work of the great Austrian composer: Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, Symphony No. 40 in G minor and Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”) cf which the G minor symphony with its sincere iyrics passion and ingenuousness…
Mozart’s violin concertos occupy a prominent place among his numerous and diverse violin compositions. They were written in connection with his concert activity as soloist and first violinist in the Salzburg orchestra. The great Austrian composer was not only a clavier virtuoso, but a superb violinist as well. Mozart’s violin concertos belong among his early…
The Requiem Mass is based on the text of a medieval Catholic funeral service. Its messages are the Day of Wrath, the Last Judge’s terrible punishment onto the sinners, their fierce pleading for mercy, the allmighty and relentless God and the merciful Jesus Christ. Neither the religious dogma, nor mysticism prevail in Mozart’s Requiem, which…
The Orthodox Church alone has kept so far the ancient Christian conception that the liturgical music should be only vocal. Way back in the IV c. St. Jerome has said that a Christian maiden should have an aversion for the heathen instruments and that it is not even befitting her to know the difference between…
Juan tie Zurharan. 1598—1664. Spanish school. 1640. Oil on canvas. 48X75 cm
Jacques-Louis David. 1748—1825. French school. 1793(?). Oil on canvas. 61X50 cm
Diego Velazquez. 1599—1660. Spanish school. 1659-60. Oil on canvas. 80X62 5 cm.
20th century. India. Carved wood. Height, 40 cm
1869—1938. China. Renunciation of Vanity. 1924 Hanging scroll
19th century. Tibet. Tempera on textile. 60X44 cm
18th century. Japan. Wood, gold lacquer. Height, 15 cm
19th century. Persia. Metal. Height, 33 cm
19th century. India. Carved mahogany. Height, 94 cm
20th century. India. Carved ivory. Height, 33.5 cm
19th century. China. Emroidery. 190X130 cm
19th century. China. Rosewood. 115X50 cm (back); 60X51 cm (seat)
16th century. China. Bronze. Height, 55 cm
19th century. China. Bronze. 121X122 cm
Illustration for the Shah-nаmа by Firdausi. 18th century.
Illustration for the Shah-nama by Firdausi. 18th century Persia. Miniature. 20.5X11.5 cm; 31X19.5 cm. (including the frame).
18th century. Persia. Faience. Height, 3 cm. Diameter, 56 cm.
Snuff-box. 18th century. China. Jade. Height, 6.8 cm.
19th century. Tibet. Gilded bronze. 30X10 cm.
18th century. Japan. Carved ivory. Height, 53 cm. Length, 45 cm.