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New Year's Eve Party at the Boulgakov's, a novel by Olga Medvedkova (2021)
Rights sold: France - Triartis Éditions
Mikhaïl Boulgakov est aujourd’hui, sans conteste, le plus grand écrivain russe de la première moitié du XXe siècle. Cette gloire internationale ne doit pas faire oublier qu’il ne put, de son vivant, presque rien publier de ses œuvres ni montrer sur scène ses productions théâtrales. Réveillon chez les Boulgakov nous fait pénétrer dans l’intimité de l’écrivain, de sa femme Elena et de leurs amis qui survivent (mais pour combien de temps encore ?) à la terreur stalinienne. Ce moment, le début de 1939, est décisif dans la carrière de Boulgakov, puisqu’il a entrepris un ouvrage qui, cette fois-ci, devrait recueillir l’assentiment du puissant maître du Kremlin. Mais, est-ce si sûr ? L'irréductible Boulgakov, un des rares hommes libres dans ces temps de servitude, de lâcheté et de flagornerie, saura-t-il courber son génie ? Quelle place un véritable créateur peut-il trouver face à un pouvoir totalitaire ?
Olga Medvedkova, faisant revivre ce brillant milieu de l’intelligentsia moscovite, nous propose au-delà d'une plongée dans le temps, un voyage plus profond, au cœur de l’œuvre de Boulgakov, analysé de manière nouvelle, à la façon de son auteur qui se définissait lui-même comme mystique et satirique.
Ce texte est un « récit véridique », une fiction où tout est vrai. Les mots sont exhumés des archives : leur diablerie dépasse même les inventions de l’auteur du Maître et Marguerite. Ce récit drôle, émouvant, effrayant, qui rappelle des faits que certains sont peut-être soucieux d’oublier aujourd’hui, parle du courage du vrai créateur, de l’intransigeance de la création et, plus largement, de la liberté de l’homme face à son temps et son destin.
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The Note. Life of Rudolf Barshai, by Oleg Dorman (NF)
Rights sold: Russia – CORPUS BOOKS, Latvia – JANIS ROZES
The 90-minutes interview with Rudolf Barshai was filmed in the great musician's house in Switzerland, in 2010, shortly before the great artist's death, and broadcast on Culture TV Channel in 2012. One journalist mentioned his "unswerving feeling of implication in someone else's talent and happiness" after The Note opening night.
Born in Russia in 1924, Rudolf Barshai was the leading Russian viola player of his generation and an important conductor, particularly in the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. His scope of talent encompassed a celebrated career as a viola soloist, conductor and arranger, the likes of which may never be seen again.
Barshai knew Shostakovich's music on a very intimate level. He studied with the great composer, and often performed Shostakovich's music with the composer at the piano. They became close personal friends. He was also close with Prokofiev, with whom he discussed orchestrations to a stunning degree.
A master of the viola, Barshai was the founding violist of Moscow's renowned Borodin Quartet. When Stalin and Prokofiev died - on the same day in 1953 - the quartet was ordered to play at both funerals. They were ferried back and forth between the two gravesites in an ambulance, Barshai remembered.
In Russia, Barshai performed chamber music with many greats, including Sviatoslav Richter, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Emil Gilels, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Leonid Kogan.
In 1955, he founded the Moscow Chamber Orchestra dubbed by Shostakovich "the greatest chamber orchestra in the world", which he led until 1977. In 1977 Barshai left the Soviet Union for Israel, where he was named music director of the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
Barshai brought to the west a significant knowledge and understanding of Russian music, appearing with symphony orchestras around the world, including the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony. In the 1980s Barshai held conducting posts with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in England and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada. At his death in 2010, he was conductor emeritus of the Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan.
Barshai was a serious, studious musician who shunned promotion, avoided interviews where possible, and concentrated solely on the interpretation of the composer's score. Indeed, the only sign he gave of being aware of his image was a hair clip that he used during performances.
Among his accomplishments, Barshai recorded a complete cycle of Shostakovich symphonies, and in 2000 completed and orchestrated Gustav Mahler's Tenth Symphony, which had been left unfinished at the composer's death. Barshai worked until his last days, finally finishing what he considered a lifetime achievement: arranging J.S.Bach's The Art of Fugue.
Movie trailer (English subtitles):
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