March 29, 2020

Homebound a la Russe


Homebound a la Russe

Theaters, museums, cinemas and libraries have all closed this month as the Russian government has moved to cut down on crowded venues. The soft lock-down (people are still allowed to walk outside, and public transit is open) is making culture venues especially reach out to their audiences. Now you can visit the Bolshoi Theater or the Tretyakov Gallery from the comfort of your own home. 

We've compiled some of the best options for Russian-style self-isolating. This page will be updated with more great offerings. Enjoy!

Music

Classical music lovers will appreciate a series put on by the Moscow Conservatory this month called "Home Seasons." The program was kicked off by pianist Denis Matsuev, who played in an empty conservatory to an online audience of some 1.5 million on March 20. That concert is still available online. 

Tune in to watch concerts streamed from the conservatory to an exclusively online audience, or to see pre-recorded shows, for example, a 2013 concert of Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who died of cancer in 2017 will be aired on April 2.

Ballet

If you're in the mood for ballet, tune in to the Bolshoi Theater's special online series, which started Friday with Swan Lake. Russia's legendary theater will be streaming some of its best classics over the next few days, starting shows at 7 PM Moscow time on its official YouTube channel. The shows will be available for the next 24 hours on the channel for people from inconvenient time zones.

On Saturday, the theater streamed Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, starring greats Svetlana Zakharova and David Hallberg, who has since departed the Bolshoi's troupe.

Theater

To watch other great productions Russia, check out the online program created by the Golden Mask festival (the festival had to cancel most of its shows this year because of the outbreak). Some of the best plays from previous years are available here.

Another platform is the culture ministry's Big Tour program done to build audiences for smaller or regional theaters. Go to their page to see offerings for that particular day, usually streamed at 7 PM Moscow time. 

Tourism

Streamings are also organized by Moscow's Department of Tourism, which will be offering both theatrical and gastronomical programs on its website "Moscow is with you." Tune in for 7 PM shows or twice-a-week online food preparation classes by capital chefs. The department has also compiled online programs from the city's various museums.

The Tretyakov Gallery has introduced online tours and lectures in a program called Tretyakovka at Home. Streamed on YouTube and Facebook, it gives the audience a chance to ask lectors and presenters questions. The program for the coming week has not yet been put online, but you can sign up to their mailing list or follow the museum's page on Facebook. And of course, view any of the past events. Unfortunately for non-Russian-speakers, they all seem to be in Russian only.

The State Hermitage calls its program Cultured Isolation: every day, it publishes recommended videos on a particular subject, showing viewers the secrets of storing stained glass, or explaining why Peter the Great had a great admiration of all things Dutch. Most of the streamed Russian programs can be found on the museum's YouTube channel

It is also preparing an English-language program, to begin airing soon, and last week it took Italians on a tour of the Winter Palace, in solidarity with Italy's museums and the mounting coronavirus toll in the country. 

Speaking of the Hermitage, perhaps you missed this 5-hour tour filmed on an iPhone earlier this month, which gathered over a million views. 

Movies

Finally, some new opportunities to watch movies have appeared in recent days, as cinemas have shuttered.

Kinopoisk, an online streaming platform owned by Yandex, has offered free service until the end of April. While a lot of the fare is Hollywood-made, some Russian films are also available. You can even indulge in some Russian-made series like Anna Nikolaevna, a freshly-made production about an android policewoman who is sent to work in provincial Russian town. (the free access code is POKAVSEDOMA)

Moscow's Center for Documentary Film has launched a platform with a free online subscription for ten days. Watch documentary classics, little-known festival items, and recently-released films like Russian Georgians, narrated by Leonid Parfyonov.

And for kids, Russian animation studio SoyuzMultfilm is publishing short animation films at 10AM Moscow time daily, as part of its festival SoyuzMultQuarantine.

And let's not forget the great site of Mosfilm, which allows one to view loads of films online for free.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955