Playing with Fire

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book came into being through the help, advice and inspiration of many people.

For the initial idea to write about Maria Yudina I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the late David King, without whom I would never have embarked on this long journey.

All Yudina scholars are deeply indebted to the late Anatoli Kuznetsov, whose contribution to the study of her life has been absolutely unique in scale and quality. I speak of his compilation of Yudina’s own writings, his searching out of friends, acquaintances and family for reminiscence material, and his systematic scouring of the archives. He put together, edited and published no fewer than five large anthologies dedicated to Yudina, as well as six large volumes of correspondence between her and a vast circle of correspondents. (The seventh volume was compiled and published after his death.) This can only be termed as an amazing feat, a selfless act of devotion.

I express my deepest thanks to the following:

Maria Veniaminovna Yudina’s heirs, Yakov Nazarov, Yulia Suvorova and Anna Kozlenko, for their kind permission in granting use of all material relating to their illustrious relative.

Serge Prokofiev the younger, grandson of the composer, for permission to examine, refer to and quote from Yudina’s letters to Prokofiev, which were held in an archive at RGALI in Moscow that was previously partially closed to scholars.

The Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire and its director, Alexander Sokolov, as well as particular gratitude to his vice-director Konstantin Zenkin – also incidentally a concert pianist, writer and scholar of Yudina interpretations – who did so much to facilitate my research in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Yevgeni Platonov, director of the audio laboratory of the Moscow Conservatoire.

The Russian National Musical Museum (RNMM) and its director, Mikhail Bryzgalov, and vice-director Yekaterina Kalinina for kind permission to use photographs from the Khrennikov Fund.

The Musical Library of St Petersburg Shostakovich Academic Philharmonia for permission to use a photograph of a wartime poster.

The Yaroslav Museum of Art for allowing a reproduction of the Poret/Glebova painting, The House Cut Open (Dom v razreze).

Margarita Novogorodova, rights-holder for Anna Akhmatova, for graciously approving my use of some lines of Akhmatova’s verse.

The wonderful pianist Marina Drozdova and her late husband, the singer Yuri Fedorishchev, for many years of true friendship. Marina has been a model and inspiration for me, in her knowledge, her musicianship, and not least for writing two indispensable books about Yudina (Yudina’s Lessons and Maria Yudina: Her Religious Destiny). She has provided me with all manner of help and advice throughout the time I worked on the book.

Yakov Nazarov for his long-standing friendship and for generously allowing use of his own photographs of Yudina, as well as images from his photographic collection.

Tamara Yankevich, widow of Anatoli Kuznetsov, and their daughter, Liza Stolovitskaya, for permission to use photographs in their possession.

The amazing musician, my friend Alexei Lubimov, who over the past two years has been more active as researcher and archivist than in his accustomed role as concert pianist. He has been consistently generous in sharing the results of his research and personal reminiscences, as well as allowing me to indulge in long discussions about Yudina and her musical interpretations. I hope to have been reciprocally helpful to him and Marina Drozdova in their work on their new volume of Yudina letters and materials, entitled ‘Ya Vsegda ischu i nakhozhu Novoe . . .’ Neizvestnaya perepiska Marii Yudinoi (‘I always search for and find the New . . .’. The Unknown Correspondence of Maria Yudina) to be published by Nestor-History in March 2022 in Moscow and St Petersburg. Additionally, Alexei, helped by various colleagues, has unearthed various previously unknown Yudina recordings in archives from Tbilisi to Leipzig, from Warsaw to Moscow. These too he has made available to me, thereby enormously helping my research.

Victoria Postnikova for graciously allowing me to quote from unpublished letters of Yudina to Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, of which he had given me copies.

Natalia Dmitrieva Solzhenitsyn for an interview about Yudina, a warm reception, and a wonderful conducted tour of the Solzhenitsyn Museum in Moscow.

My wonderful research assistants: in Moscow, Ivan Porshnev, who has found and meticulously catalogued much valuable information from the Moscow archives, not least about Yudina’s radio broadcasts; and in St Petersburg, Anastasia Kasatkina for her help in finding letters to and from Yudina.

The scholars and musicologists Larisa Chirkova, Yekaterina Vlasova, Roman Berchenko, Lyudmila Kovnatskaya, Olga Digonskaya, Olga Manulkina, Alexei Trifonov, Yaroslav Timofeev and Alexander Laskowski for their unfailing kindness and willingness to help in providing material and pointing me to the right sources.

Ildar Galeyev, for so kindly providing images and written articles about Yudina.

The following late musicians and writers, who provided information and gave me interviews: Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Natalia Shakhovskaya, Robert Craft, Boris Filippov, Gavriil Yudin, Nikolai Karetnikov, Edison Denisov, Alfred Schnittke and Irina Semyonova.

The former students and assistants of Yudina: the pianist Viktor Derevyanko for his friendship, many discussions and telephone calls; Lev Markiz, violinist and conductor whom I recently interviewed over the phone; my colleague, the cellist Lev Yevgrafov, and the pianists Yevgeni Koroliov and his wife Lyupka for a wonderful interview.

For hospitality and general encouragement I warmly thank Larisa Chirkova, the late Vladimir Skanavi, Natalia Gutman, Vladimir Tarnopolsky, Irina Snitkova, Pavel Lutsker, Irina Susidko, Olga Rostropovich and Michael Bird.

For sharing reminiscences and discussions, I thank Eliso Virsoladze, the late Mark Lubotsky and Thomas Sanderling.

My thanks to Oleg Khlevnyuk, for sending me an electronic copy of his book Stalin – Zhizn odnogo Vozhdya (2015) (Stalin: The Life of a Leader), and for answering my questions.

My warmest thanks to the following Archives in St Petersburg and Moscow for allowing me to consult their collections:

St Petersburg

The Russian Institute of History of the Arts. My gratitude to Galina Kopytova and her colleagues.

The Musical Library of St Petersburg Academic Shostakovich Philharmonia. Thanks for a warm welcome from Pavel Dmitriev.

RNB, the Russian National Library (lovingly referred to as the ‘Publichka’), which provided much valuable information.

St Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatoire Reading Room and in particular to Larisa Millar, Dar’ya Varul’, Yekaterina Khomchuk and colleagues

TsGALI, the Central State Archive of Literature and Art and to Anastasia Lapina.

Moscow GARF, the Russian Federation State Archive and I.V. Baikova.

The Gnesins’ Russian Academy of Music archive.

MGK, the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatoire), its archival staff, and in particular Eugene Platonov of the Audio Lab.

RGAFD, the Russian State Archive of Phonographic Documents and Marina Lazereva.

RGALI, the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. Particular thanks to A. Shashkova, Galina Zlobina, Yekaterina Gunashvili and Svetlana Popova.

RGASPI, the Russian State Archive of Social-Political History and to Anna Kochetova.

RGB, the Russian State Library and its helpful archivists.

RNMM, the Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture. My thanks to its director Mikhail Bryzgalov Kira Ivanova and Yekaterina Kalinina.

Outside Russia

My deepest gratitude is due to the Oleg Prokofiev Trust for a generous grant, which made possible a five-week research trip to Moscow and St Petersburg in September–October 2019.

I warmly thank Dr Rosamund Bartlett for her consistent interest and for sharing her contacts. She has been behind me from the start, encouraging me throughout my long – sometimes painful – journey. She and her husband Dan Driscoll have read chapters, made critical and appreciative comments, and asked thought-provoking questions, so necessary to an author. Furthermore she read through the typescript at proof stage and made particularly useful corrections regarding transliteration and Russian spellings, for which I am most grateful.

An enormous thank you to Pauline Fairclough for her warm and generous support, and for setting me on the road to publication. I have tried to incorporate her helpful comments and useful suggestions into my text, and thank her for the resulting improvements.

My warmest gratitude to Gerard McBurney who has patiently answered queries, read excerpts of the book, passed on contacts, offered wise advice, comfort and good cheer – and provided a good laugh or two to lighten up some sad and dismal times over the last couple of years. I unfailingly learn from him, and hope the process is at least sometimes reciprocal.

My thanks also to Dmitri Alekseev and his wife Tatiana Sarkisova who have allowed me to consult them on various pianistic and specifically Russian issues. I am most grateful to my friend Nadine Dubourvieux for making available her recorded interviews on Yudina – we share a long-standing mutual interest in the great pianist! I am no less grateful to Vyacheslav Poprugin for transferring these recordings from reel-to-reel to a digital format.

My thanks to Gabriel Prokofiev, Frances Prokofiev, David Nice, Boris Berman, Anthony Phillips, Hermione Lee, the late Mark Lubotsky, Marina Frolova-Walker, Martin Anderson, Clem Cecil, Brian Elias, Niel Immelman, Vadim Sakharov Kathron Sturrock, Andrew Ball, Caroline Weichert and Ann Wilson for their sustained interest and support.

My sister Catherine has encouraged and advised me all the way – my thanks to her, not least for suggesting the book’s title.

I am most grateful to Brother Adalberto Mainardi for patiently instructing me in the convoluted history of the Russian Orthodox Church during the 1910s and 1920s, and to the Monastic Community of Bose (near Biella, Italy) for use of their library.

A particularly warm thank you to Jean-Pierre Collot for all his help and for giving me permission to refer my readers to his updated and complete Yudina discography on his own website. He recently discovered an important cache of Yudina letters to Suvchinsky at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, which he put together and edited as their complete correspondence covering the last decade of her life – a fascinating read.^* It has been a delight to discover in him a new ‘Yudina’ colleague and friend.

I wish to thank the Society of Authors for invaluable advice and for being there when needed.

Not to be forgotten, the oasis of the British Library where I did much research when in London – thank you.

At Yale University Press, a heartfelt thank you to the commissioning editor, Julian Loose, who decided to take on my book, an act of courage and curiosity which I hope will be justified by the result. He has been there quietly encouraging me from the start, giving advice exactly at the point it is most needed. The whole Yale University Press team has been wonderful to work with and has guided me with great tact and sensitivity through all thorny issues. My warmest thanks to Katie Urquhart, Rachael Lonsdale, Lucy Buchan, Felicity Maunder and Percie Edgeler.

Last but not least, an enormous debt of gratitude to Richard Mason, my copy-editor, who has patiently and painstakingly gone through the text, identifying large and small errors, and pulling me up on any sloppy writing or thinking. More than anybody, he has been responsible for putting order into all sections of this book.

At home in Italy, my husband Francesco has supported me when I got discouraged, and he has sustained me in body and soul with his fantastic cooking throughout this time. Our daughter Sasha and her partner Mohamed have produced the best distraction in the world in my two wonderful grandsons, Elias and Rayan.

My sincere thanks to all the above mentioned and to any others whom I may have inadvertently overlooked.

Elizabeth Wilson,

Cumiana, August 2021

* Maria Youdina–Pierre Souvtchinsky, Correspondance et Documents (1959–1970), Paris: Contrechamps, 2020.