|
Siberian Akademgorodok (Academy Town) was built by the
Soviet government using the slave labor of military
construction troops and prisoners, as a backup for central
Russian scientific institutions. In the late fifties a new
town imitating Los-Alamos was standing in the pine forest,
about 20 miles from large industrial city of
Novosibirsk.
Established scientists from Moscow and St. Petersburg
weren't eager to move, so the new town was populated by
young university graduates lured by a governmental promise
of an apartment (which would normally take 10-15 years to
get). Some famous scientists, formerly imprisoned for
political reasons, were not allowed to reside in capital
cities: these also settled there. Unusual mix of people,
together with the short period of political "ottepel" (thaw)
after Stalin's death, produced an atmosphere of free
discussions and exchanges unprecedented in Soviet
Russia.
Alexander Feht was the first
child born in Siberian Akademgorodok, in a family of
mathematician known not only for his scientific works but
also for his anti-Soviet activity. Alexander started violin
lessons at the age of 3, and went to music school and
college for piano, violin and composition classes.
Problems started in the college where career-oriented
musicians were supposed to be Young Communist League members
and write musical compositions glorifying the Communist
Party and Soviet Government. Refusing to satisfy these
conditions, Alexander graduated due to the fact that he was
winning musical awards for the college while participating
in anonymous competitions.
After graduation, a musical career was closed to him, since
he didn't follow the beaten path of political subservience.
He worked as a night guard and did construction work. He
composed his music and wrote his poetry without any hope of
publication or public performance. Only a few friends knew
of their existence.
After Alexander's brother-in-law, Dimitri Sokolenko, escaped
to America (visit
www.feht.com/wcp/ds
for his story), Alexander's wife was fired from her job in a
scientific institute as a "sister of the traitor". The
military was threatening to send Alexander to Afghanistan,
or, if he refused, to mental hospital for life. At the same
time, the KGB found some of his anti-Soviet poetry while
searching the apartment of a man who obligingly supplied
them with the name of the author. Leaving the country as
soon as possible was Alexander's only hope to survive.
Fortunately, at that time (Gorbachev's perestroika just
started) this option existed: KGB didn't seem to mind
getting rid of the troublemaker.
It wasn't simple to leave the USSR even if the authorities
didn't mind. An invitation from a foreign relative was
necessary. Already in the US, Dimitri provided a fake
invitation from an unexisting aunt (invitation from himself
obviously wouldn't work: he was a "traitor"). The exit visa
and citizenship refusal needed to leave the country would
cost 500 rubles per person &emdash; half a year's salary.
Alexander and his wife had to sell everything to raise the
money.
Another major problem was that the Soviet Government would
not allow any manuscripts to be brought out of the country.
Photographs were taken of all the scores, and the resulting
films were given to the Western tourists who agreed to bring
them through the customs, and to mail the films to Dimitri
in the States. When he received the scores, Dimitri mailed a
postcard to Alexander using a code. The manuscripts were
safe.
Several years after arriving in the US, Alexander heard from
Russia that the KGB had tried to stop him on his way abroad.
Because 99% of the emigrants were leaving by plane, agents
searched at the Moscow airport, planning to arrest him for
using the fake documents. Alexander, however, had taken the
train, desiring to experience the actual crossing of the
border. This decision may possibly have saved him and his
family.
He started his new life in the US with only a few dollars
and very little English but with a strong desire to find an
audience for his music. Unfortunately, tonal serious music
wasn't in vogue in the 1980s. Although aware of Alexander's
talent, no professional musician was willing to associate
himself with music which was a sure target for modernist
critics. Needing to support his family, Alexander started a
translation business, which, after several years, became
very successful. During this time, classical music critics
began to show interest in tonal music once again. Meanwhile,
Alexander was digitizing his scores and sending score
samples to professional classical singers who might be
interested in performing his vocal compositions and
participating in recordings.
One day he received a demo disk from Moscow with some of his
songs recorded by tenor Nikolai Doroshkin and pianist Sergey
Chechetko, showing impressive technical ability and
understanding of music. Next year his first CD,
"Demon",
was recorded in Moscow. It received favorable reviews, and
some US radio stations played it. A recital of Alexander's
songs took place in Moscow's Helikon Opera Theater on
April 16, 2002. The audience
reaction was very positive; more concerts are planned for
the fall and winter.
A second CD, "Arion", is scheduled to appear in 2007. It
will consist of 20 songs written on Pushkin's poems.
The title of Alexander's CD,
"Demon",
requires some explanation. The word is the same in Russian
and in English. However, in Russian it has a special
literary and musical history. It has been used extensively
in Russian Romantic literature and music, usually to portray
a bitter man dissatisfied with the world. A well-known poem
by Mikhail Lermontov, "Demon", is about an angel exiled from
Paradise who falls in love with a mortal woman; Anton
Rubinstein's opera is based on the same poem.
Alexander Pushkin's famous verse "Demon" is about a poet
meeting an old friend returning from Siberian exile;
hardened by misfortunes, the old friend doesn't share any
more the passions of their youth for beauty, love, freedom,
or life itself. The poet perceives his friend's overwhelming
disillusionment as "demonic".
In American society, bitter views are often rejected as
being "not nice". Criticizing the state of today's serious
music is not supposed to be good for a musical career, and
is aggressively opposed, as if it were some kind of a
"demonic" heresy. However, there must be someone finally
saying that the emperor is naked: that abysmal noise is not
music, and that antique statues had qualities unseen in
modern art. True beauty shines throughout the centuries,
while decadent, short-lived fashions pass into oblivion. Is
it not strange that in our time defending melody, harmony
and beauty is perceived as a Demon's deed?
Currently Alexander Feht, his wife and their son are living
in the South Colorado mountains. Mr. Feht is one of the
leading Russian translators in the United States.
|
