In September, Vladimir Vassiliev was dismissed as the Bolshoi Theater’s director and Anatoly Iksanov was ap-point-ed as general director. Iksanov will perform mainly administrative duties, while conductor Gennady Rozh-dest-vensky has taken over as creative director.
Art critics quickly termed the move an attempt to stop experimentalism and bring back “classic” traditions to the theater: Rozh-dest-ven-sky headed the thea-ter’s orchestra in the Bolshoi’s heyday of 1965-1970. Under Vassiliev, the Bolshoi had enjoyed unheard of creative and financial autonomy (but, as many critics admitted, Vassiliev “was an outstanding dancer but proved to be not much of a manager”). This autonomy came from a special order of President Boris Yeltsin, but the new administration in the Kremlin has reversed this trend and the Bolshoi will once again be subordinated to the Russian Ministry of Culture.
Rozhdest-vensky has already confirmed the Russ-ian proverb that “a new broom sweeps anew.” He chose Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov (and not the traditional Ivan Susanin, by Glinka—see photo, inset) to launch the theater’s jubilee 225th season.
[In yet another development, at press time it was announced that Boris Aki-mov was appointed artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet Company. Akimov is a former soloist with the company and he replaces Aleksei Fadeechev, who was fired in October for blaming the Ministry of Culture for the “catastrophic” situation at the Bolshoi.]
German Titov, the second man to orbit the earth, died of a heart attack in September at the age of 65. He was buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy Ceme-tery.
Titov was Yuri Gagarin’s back-up pilot and the first man to spend more than a day in orbit. Just two days before what would become Gaga-rin’s historic April 12, 1961 flight, Titov learned that Gagarin, and not he, Titov, would be the first man in space. “I was frustrated, of course,” Titov revealed in a TV interview last year. “Because, up to the last minute, I thought my chances were good that I would be the commander of the Vostok capsule.”
But it was Gagarin’s 108 minute flight that would push the Soviet Union ahead of the US in the Space Race. Still, Titov’s August 6, 1961 flight was remarkable in its own right. During the 25 hour 18 minute flight, Titov became the first person ever to sleep in space. He also still holds the record as the youngest man in space: he flew when he was only 25.
The independent-minded Titov held strong opinions and was not afraid to voice them. In recent years, he dissented with the Kremlin, resigning his commission in the Soviet Military Space Forces in 1991 because he could not stomach the break-up of the USSR and the dismantling of its space programs.
In 1995, Titov won election to the Russian Duma as a Russian Communist Party candidate. Despite his communist credentials, Titov was known to be a Christian, baptized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Legend has long had it that the composer Alexan-dra Pakhmutova dedicated her famous song Nezhnost (“Tenderness”) to Titov. The refrain of this poignant song –”Opustela bez tebya zemlya” (“The earth became empty without you”)—now takes on a new, sadder significance.
Friends and relatives were stunned by Titov’s sudden passing, noting that his health was good and he should have lived many more years. The world’s second cosmonaut died of a heart attack in his sauna.
Russian President Vladi-mir Putin sent his condolences to Titov’s widow, praising him as a pioneer of space exploration: “A bold and courageous man, he was one of the first to pave the way to the stars. His name will forever remain as a symbol of the great victories of the Russian space program.” Indeed, there is a crater on the moon named for Titov.
The sculpture “Make Way for Ducklings,” based on the Robert McCloskey story of the same name (and a replica of the sculpture in Boston’s Public Garden) was rededicated in September.
The sculpture was originally unveiled in 1991, a gift from then US First Lady Barbara Bush to Raisa Gorbacheva and all Soviet children. But in 1991 one of the ducklings was stolen and in February of this year the mother duck and two more ducklings disappeared. Six American companies sponsored the recreation of the sculpture, ordering a new mother duck and three more ducklings from sculptor Nancy Schon. The Moscow government, in turn, promised to beef up security — now a militia car will drive by twice a day instead of just once. More importantly, the bronze ducks are now insured.
Alexandra Petrova (left), Miss Russia-96, was murdered in September, the victim of a contract killing in her native city of Cheboksary. Two local mobsters, one of them Petrova’s boyfriend, were also victims. It is the third murder or assault on a beauty queen in recent months.
Last year, Eleonora Kondratyuk (Miss Sochi) refused the advances of a local gangster, who then ordered her doused with acid. The perpetrators were caught, but Kondratyuk was permanently scarred. Also last year, Svetlana Kotova, (formerly Miss Moscow), the girlfriend of Russian hit man Alexander Solonik (also known as Sasha Makedonsky), was ‘wetted’ because she knew too much.
Contenders in Russian beauty contests often seek support from well-to-do patrons, many of them criminals. As recent events show, such alliances are fraught with danger.
A monument to Raisa Gorbacheva—the late wife of Mikhail Gorbachev, the “father of perestroika,” was unveiled at Novodevichy cemetery on the first anniversary of her death this fall. Gorbacheva died of leukemia last year, at the age of 67, her premature death silencing even her most vocal critics.
The young and elegant Raisa was a new type of Kremlin wife. She was the first to hold the Western-style title of “first Soviet lady.” Her high society public appearances, where she wore Western-style outfits, quite often drew the ire of average Soviets, who were struggling to deal with food rationing in the late 1980s.
Many local observers argue that Gorbacheva never fully recovered from the shock of being betrayed by former allies and being put under house arrest during the August 1991 coup attempt.
When gravely ill and undergoing heavy chemo-therapy in Germany, Gorbacheva received tens of thousands of letters of support from fellow Russians. Aware of the new wave of sympathy for her in her homeland, Gorbacheva reportedly said to her husband: “So, I had to die so that they started loving me?!”
The Russian news agency ITAR-TASS called the opening of the German cemetery in the village of Sologu-bovka in Leningrad region a “sign of reconciliation.”
The cemetery was open-ed under the terms of a Russian-German military agreement signed Decem-ber 1993. It gives the German Union for the Main-tenance of Military Monuments in Russia the right to provide for a decent burial of German soldiers who died in Russia during World War II.
Some 80,000 German soldiers are to be buried in Sologubovka. It was in this area, near Lake Ladoga, that German troops began the 900-day blockade of Leningrad, in which many thousands died a slow painful death from famine.
The Russian National Orchestra (RNO)—which is fully independent of state control—inaugurated its 10th season in Moscow this fall. The season began with a concert at the Moscow State Conservatory. The RNO will embark on a 10th anniversary world tour later this year (see our Events Calendar in the magazine and online for more info).
Russia’s lower house of parliament has banned smoking in the Duma building on Okhotny Ryad—in rooms, hallways and even in toilets. Officially that is. Inveterate smoker-deputies, aghast at the decision, are saying, off the record, that they will keep smoking anyway. They cannot but envy Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov—a chain smoker himself. Seleznyov has a private office where he can quietly smoke behind closed doors.
Some 124 students of Russian military schools under the Defense Ministry will receive stipends from the Office of the President of Russia. The stipend has already taken on the colloquial name “Putinskaya.” The stipend is four times the minimum salary, or R336 per month, and will increase on January 1, 2001 to R480.
A new vodka brand called Putin has been launched in Lithuania, Izvestia daily reported. The vodka’s label features white, blue and red stripes (the colors of the Russian flag) and the product’s name in white letters. Yet, the vodka’s name does not signify a new Lithuanian love for Vladimir Putin. Apparently the new vodka’s name derives from the word “putinas”—a tree with red berries which grows in Lithuania.
No other country adopts as many foreign children as America. And, according to US Department of State data, Russia is once again the largest source of foreign adoptions by Americans. In 1999, 4348 Russian children were adopted by Americans, while 4101 Chinese children were adopted, followed by 2008 children from South Korea and 1002 from Guatemala.
Moscow workers have completed restoration of the Gostiny Dvor (Guests’ Yard), built in 1825-1830 according to a plan by Jacomo Kvarengi. The renovated monument of classicism includes an internal yard covered by a transparent roof, and trade galleries filled with cafes and stores. The reconstruction took five years and over $300 mn. Five years ago, Gostiny Dvor was in a state of emergency and its foundation was falling apart. However, some critics have said that the renovated Dvor has very little in common with the original and spoils the architectural look of the Zaryadye area (next to the Rossiya hotel).
The best performers of Russia gathered at the opening concert of the new Hall of Church Councils within the newly-opened ensemble of Christ the Savior’s Cathedral (see Russian Life, July/Aug 2000). According to an agreement signed by the Moscow Patriarchate and the Moscow City Government, in addition to church councils, the hall will also host concerts of spiritual and classic music. Left, Irina Arkhipova (who turns 75 this winter, see Russian Calendar, page 20) and choir perform at the opening concert.
In 1999, according to Russia’s State Committee on Statistics, just 177,120 Americans visited Russia. About 40% of these visitors, or 70,650, came as tourists and 95,120 arrived on business. This number is down significantly from 1998, when 216,976 Americans visited Russia. It is approximately the same number of Americans as visited Russia in 1996. Some 80% of foreign visitors to Russia visit Moscow and/or St. Petersburg.
The Moscow Confederation of Trade Unions estimated the average monthly minimum survival salary in Moscow at R2975 (slightly over $100), Interfax news agency reported. In August, Muscovites spent the bulk of their incomes on food (R1289). Expenses on non-food items totalled R1,017, on services: R478, with R191 going to taxes and other payments.
Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev said that Russian armed forces will be cut by almost a third (350,000 soldiers) by the year 2003. This year’s draft is hoped to bring in 190,000 new recruits.
Russian publishers say the book industry is recapturing its strength of the 1980s, as Russian readers buy more and more books. Publishers released 16,459 titles during the first six months of 2000, a level matched only in the 1980s, according to a report issued by the All-Russia Book Chamber.
Money deposited in private bank accounts in Russia grew by 20% over the course of the first five months of 2000.
Gold reserves have increased by $11 bn since the beginning of this year, reaching $24.2 bn on September 8 (vs. $17 bn in 1998). Industrial output has increased by 22.4% vs. 1998-1999 (Argumenty I Fakty).
Inflation in Russia has been 12.6% since the beginning of the year, according to official government figures. In August, the inflation rate was just 1% (down from 1.8% in July and 2.5% in June).
The US Agriculture Department has donated about 35,220 tons of US farm commodities to Russia in fiscal year 2000. The USAD said the food donation included buckwheat, goats, rice, lentils, wheat flour, nonfat dried milk and vegetable oil.
The city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is going to spend $5000 to restore an 11 meter high statue of Vladimir Lenin. The money will come from the oblast budget. (Interfax-Eurasia)
Meanwhile, President Putin will get a second residence after $25 million is spent to restore the 18th century Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg (London Times).
There are over 69,000 schools in Russia. Over 65% lack computers. The remaining one-third have only obsolete models. (ITAR-TASS)
52% of Russians have a negative attitude toward the results of reforms carried out in Russia in recent years. Only 15% giving a positive assessment. 44% still feel the government should be actively pursuing reform, while 28% disagree. 56% said they believe it is the president and not the government which must take responsibility for the results of reform. (Public Opinion Foundation).
As of the end of September, 63.1 million tons of grain had been harvested, 8.4 million tons more than in 1999. Meanwhile, the sugar beet harvest is down to around half of last year’s total.
59% of Russians oppose handing back the disputed Kurile islands to Japan (RIA-Novosti).
The Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said that its after-tax profit was R59.6 bn ($2.14 bn) for the first half of 2000.
It can cost $1-6 million to pay the price of political consultants to run a regional governor’s campaign in Russia. Election regulations, however, place a $36,000 (1 million ruble) cap on spending in such campaigns. (Novaya Gazeta)
Russia’s economy is in better shape than at any time since post-Soviet reforms started, as Reuters quoted ING Barings. GDP growth may stabilize at about 5.5% this year.
Vladislav Putilin, head of the General Staff’s Department for Organization and Mobilization said that, on average, 37% of Russia’s draftees have poor health and that 55% have “various limitations.”
Unemployment dropped 18.1% over the last year—from August to August (Goskomstat ).
“Sometimes technological barbarity can turn to an advantage ... God himself and the boredom of life has
compelled our citizens to read books ... Russia, notwithstanding the horrors of the transition period, did not decline as a nation ... Possibly because Russians have not lost the capability to avidly read books.”
Izvestia on August’s 13th International Moscow Book Fair.
“We seemed doomed to bear some cross ... Maybe, it is the other side of the much-vaunted ‘mysterious’ Russian soul: we despise the low — material — culture, the culture of consumption, and we tend to aspire to the Word, the Thought, the Poetry ... There is also our exaggerated national exclusivity — that special form of national pride which we are perhaps being punished for ...”
Argumenty I Fakty weekly, trying to explain the causes of the series of fatal disasters in July and August.
“The oligarchs must sit quietly and keep their heads down. If they keep their heads up, then they will get hit – right in the mug.”
Kommersant, quoting a high-ranking official at the Kremlin who thus voiced President Putin’s unofficial position vis-a-vis the oligarchs.
“Journalists, especially those of the middle and elderly generation, as a rule did not practice martial arts ... Therefore, Putin easily outmaneuvers the mass media using techniques of a true judoka.”
Sevodnya, on the Kremlin’s relations with the press.
“Our people have this mentality that they don’t like to take loans. Sometimes you tell them: ‘Come on, take a loan.’ But now, they just pay it all back at once.”
First vice-premier of the Moscow City government, Vladimir Resin, explaining the slow take-off of the capital city’s mortgage program. (Itogi)
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.
Russian Life 73 Main Street, Suite 402 Montpelier VT 05602
802-223-4955
[email protected]
