The Soviet Experience
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2010
The Soviet Experience
Art ::
Dance :: Music :: Theater
An unprecedented collaboration showcasing works by
artists of the Soviet Union
October 2010 - December 2011
In one of the largest
collaborative artistic efforts across Chicago since the Silk Road Chicago in
2006/07, eleven of the city's prominent arts institutions will join together in
2010 and 2011 to present The Soviet
Experience, a 14-month-long showcase of works by artists who created under
(and in response to) the Politburo of the Soviet Union.
From the poignant string
quartets and symphonies of Dmitri Shostakovich to stunning, hand-painted WWII
propaganda posters, and from the grand orchestral and ballet music of Sergei
Prokofiev to the political satire of Evgeny Shvarts, The Soviet Experience will take festival-goers behind the Iron
Curtain to explore its essence through the creative work of its visual artists,
choreographers, composers, and dramatists.
FESTIVAL FACTS
- The Soviet Experience is spearheaded by the University of Chicago Presents (UCP), the University's professional
presenting organization.
- 11 festival partners include: UCP, Chicago College of Performing Arts at
Roosevelt University, Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Harris
Theater for Music and Dance, Art Institute of Chicago, Block Museum of Art at
Northwestern University, Smart Museum of Art, Special Collections Research
Center at The University of Chicago Library, The University of Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, and Court Theatre. (Additional partners to be announced in Fall
2010.)
- More than 48 events will take place in a dozen venues across Chicago.
- Dedicated festival website www.TheSovietExperience.org will launch
this summer.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Grammy
Award-winning Pacifica Quartet will perform
the complete string quartets of Dmitri
Shostakovich at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall.
- Riccardo Muti and Jaap van
Zweden
will conduct Shostakovich Symphonies No.
5 in D Minor, Op. 47 and No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 65 at the CSO, respectively.
- Mark
Morris Dance Group will perform Romeo & Juliet, On
Motifs of Shakespeare, featuring Sergey Prokofiev's original score and
scenario, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.
- Simon Trpčeski will
perform a program of Russian Piano Trios in his Chicago chamber music debut
with Gjorgji Dimchevski and Kenneth Olsen at UChicago's Mandel
Hall.
- Chicago Opera Theater will present the American
premiere of Gerard McBurney's re-orchestration of Shostakovich's MOSCOW,
CHERYOMUSHKI.
- The
Art Institute of Chicago will exhibit striking War-time propaganda posters not
seen in the United States since World War II.
- The Block Museum of Art, Smart Museum of Art, and the Special Collections Research Center at The University of Chicago Library will exhibit special collections of iconic Soviet propaganda imagery, book art, children's books, posters, cartoons and more.
- The Departments of Music and Slavic Languages and Literatures at UChicago will present additional curricular opportunities featuring expert faculty.
- The
University of Chicago, Smart Museum, and Art Institute will present an
interdisciplinary symposium in Fall 2011 illustrating the full scope of the
artists of this era and their relationship to one another and the state.
FESTIVAL
SCHEDULE
(As of March 11, 2010;
schedule subject to change)
OCTOBER 2010
University of Chicago
Presents
Tokyo String Quartet
Friday, October 1, 2010
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Chicagopresents.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8068
Mozart: Quartet in C major,
K. 575
Lera Auerbach: Quartet No.
2, "Primera Luz"
Schumann: Quartet in A
major, op. 41, no. 3
Returning to Mandel Hall for
the first time since 2005/06, the Tokyo String Quartet will open the Chicago
Presents season with a program featuring Russian composer Lera Auerbach, 2011
composer-in-residence of the Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra. Having recently
celebrated their 40th anniversary, the Quartet will round out the
program with works by Mozart and Schumann.
____________________________
Symphony Center Presents
Orchestra Series
Mariinsky Orchestra (formerly Kirov Orchestra)
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Denis Matsuev, piano
Tuesday, October 12, 2010, 8
pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto
No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30
Shostakovich: Symphony No.
15 in A Major, Op. 141
Last heard at Symphony
Center in 2003, the Mariinsky Orchestra (formerly the Kirov Orchestra) returns
to Chicago with conductor Valery Gergiev, who has been associated with the
company for more than 30 years, and currently serves as artistic and general
director of the Mariinsky Theatre. Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, who won the
International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998, joins the ensemble for
Rachmaninov's imposing Piano Concerto No. 3, and their program concludes with
Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15, his final symphony.
____________________________
Roosevelt University
Pacifica Quartet: Shostakovich Cycle
October 17, 2010, 2 and 7 pm
Ganz Hall, 430 S. Michigan
Ave, 7th floor
www.pacificaquartet.com, 847.242.0775
Shostakovich:
String Quartets Nos. 1, 2, and 3
The Grammy Award-winning
Pacifica Quartet will perform the groundbreaking string quartets of Russian
composer Dmitri Shostakovich in a series of five programs at Roosevelt
University's Ganz Hall. This series will be the first Chicago performance of
the complete string quartets of Dmitri Shostakovich in one concert season.
Composed from 1935 to 1974, a period spanning much of the composer's creative
life, the fifteen quartets will be performed in the order of their composition.
The series will include the composer's Piano Quintet performed in collaboration
with the brilliant young American pianist Orion Weiss. This unique opportunity to
hear the complete cycle of quartets and the Piano Quintet in five performances
will be augmented by free lecture/demonstrations at the University of Chicago.
____________________________
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
Measha Brueggergosman, soprano
Thursday, October 28, 2010,
8 pm
Friday, October 29, 2010, 8
pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
John Luther Adams: Dark Waves
Mahler: Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
in C Minor, Op. 65
Canadian soprano Measha
Brueggergosman makes her CSO debut in two Symphony Center performances under
the direction of guest conductor Jaap van Zweden singing songs from Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The program,
which also includes John Luther Adams' Dark
Waves and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8, is repeated in Urbana, IL.
____________________________
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
Measha Brueggergosman, soprano
Saturday, October 30, 2010,
8 pm
Krannert Center for the
Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Avenue
University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign
www.krannertcenter.com,
217.333.6700
John Luther Adams: Dark Waves
Mahler: Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 8
in C Minor, Op. 65
(See above for details.)
____________________________
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Civic Orchestra of Chicago
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
Sunday, October 31, 2010,
TBD pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
Shostakovich: Chamber
Symphony, Op. 110a
The young musicians of the
Civic Orchestra of Chicago present a program by two of the greatest Russian
composers: Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. Guest conductor Jaap van Zweden
leads the these talented musicians in the one of the quintessential Romantic
masterpieces - Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony - and Shostakovich's Chamber
Symphony for strings, which is an orchestration of his String Quartet No. 8.
____________________________
Roosevelt University
Pacifica Quartet: Shostakovich Cycle
October 31, 2010, 2 and 7 pm
Ganz Hall, 430 S. Michigan
Ave, 7th floor
www.pacificaquartet.com, 847.242.0775
Shostakovich:
String Quartet Nos. 4 and 5; Piano Quintet with Orion Weiss, piano
(See October 17 listing for
description)
NOVEMBER 2010
University of Chicago
Presents
Ani Aznavoorian, cello, and Lera Auerbach, piano/composer
Friday, November 5, 2010
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Chicagopresents.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8068
Shostakovich: Cello Sonata
in D minor, op. 40
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No.
2 in D minor, op. 14
Lera Auerbach: 24 Preludes
for Violincello and Piano, op. 47
Brilliant virtuosos Ani Aznavoorian and Lera Auerbach will make their Chicago recital debut together paying homage to Shostakovich in an evening including his Cello Sonata and Auerbach's own 24 Preludes for Violoncello and Piano. One of the most widely performed composers of the new generation, Auerbach is the youngest composer on the roster of the prestigious international music publishing company Sikorski, home to Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and Schnittke.
____________________________
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Kremerata Baltica; Gidon Kremer, Artistic Leader
and Soloist
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Drive
HarrisTheaterChicago.org,
312.334.7777
Bartok: Divertimento
Schumann: Cello Concerto (Violin Version)
Selections from Kremerata
Baltica's new album De Profundis (to be released Fall 2010), featuring
recent works by Michael Nyman, Arvo Pärt, Lera Auerbach, Raminta Šerkšnytė, and
Georgs Pelecis
Renowned violinist Gidon
Kremer, born and raised in Soviet-occupied Latvia, and his namesake Kremerata
Baltica chamber orchestra, comprised of the top young professional musicians
from the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, make their Harris
Theater debut with this provocative program. Kremer, whom The New York Times calls "one of the truly interesting musicians
among us today," has been celebrated as one of the most original and compelling
artists of his generation. In 1997, he founded Kremerata
Baltica with the purpose of promoting and celebrating the music of his
homeland. The Grammy Award-winning chamber orchestra is considered one of the
most prominent international ensembles in Europe, and it is recognized for its
unusual repertoire, in particular its unconventional pairings of composers.
____________________________
University of Chicago
Presents
Gjorgji Dimchevski, violin;
Kenneth Olsen, cello; Simon
Trpceski, piano
Friday, November 19, 2010
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Chicagopresents.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8068
Rachmaninov: Trio élégiaque
in G minor, no. 1
Shostakovich: Piano Trio in
E minor, op. 67
Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A
minor, op. 50
A student of Russian masters
Ludmilla and Boris Romanov, Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski will make his
Chicago chamber music debut with long-time friend Gjorgji Dimchevski and
Kenneth Olsen of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The trio will bring a fresh
voice to the fierce all-Russian program, including the Shostakovich Piano Trio,
originally premiered with the composer at the piano.
JANUARY 2011
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano
Thursday, January 6, 2011, 8
pm
Saturday, January 8, 2011, 8
pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Liadov: Baba-Yaga , Op. 56
Liadov: The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto
No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in
B-flat Major, Op. 100
Sir Mark Elder returns to
the CSO for the first concerts of 2011, conducting a Russian program with
pianist Stephen Hough as soloist in Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, part of
Hough's 2010/11 survey of the great Russian master's solo keyboard works. The
program also includes Liadov's Baba-Yaga
and The Enchanted Lake, as well as
Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, which is also featured in two Beyond the Score performances.
____________________________
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Beyond the Score
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Gerard McBurney, narrator and host
Friday, January 7, 2011,
1:30 pm
Sunday, January 9, 2011, 3
pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5 in
B-flat Major, Op. 100
Sir Mark Elder leads this Beyond the Score presentation of
Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, examining the opposing forces of artistry and
politics that led Prokofiev to write this paradoxical work. The CSO's acclaimed
Beyond the Score series reveals the
story behind great musical works with a live audiovisual presentation and
dramatized commentary provided by creative director Gerard McBurney.
____________________________
University
of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
University of Chicago
Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Schubert, Music Director and
Conductor
Saturday, January 29, 2011, 8 pm
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Music.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8069
Shostakovich's
Film Scores: The Gadfly, Hamlet, King Lear, and more
No
other major composer of the twentieth century devoted more of his career to
film music than Dmitri Shostakovich. Altogether he composed scores to 36
films, from New Babylon (1929) to King Lear (1971). While
generally written in a more accessible idiom than most of his orchestral or
chamber works, Shostakovich's film scores nevertheless boast meticulous
craftsmanship and reveal the composer's complex and often paradoxical musical
personality. Related film screenings by the Department of Cinema and Media
Studies to be announced.
____________________________
Roosevelt University
Pacifica Quartet: Shostakovich Cycle
January 30, 2011, 2 and 7 pm
Ganz Hall, 430 S. Michigan
Ave, 7th floor
www.pacificaquartet.com, 847.242.0775
Shostakovich:
String Quartets Nos. 6, 8, and 9
(See October 17 listing for
description)
FEBRUARY 2011
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
Mitsuko Uchida, piano
Thursday, February 3, 2011,
8 pm
Friday, February 4, 2011,
1:30 pm
Saturday, February 5, 2011,
8 pm
Tuesday, February 8, 2011,
7:30 pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Schumann: Piano Concerto in
A Minor, Op. 54
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
in D Minor, Op. 47
Mitsuko Uchida spends two
weeks with the CSO during 2010/11, both as a conductor and as a soloist. She
leads the Orchestra from the piano in Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 11 and 21;
the Orchestra also performs Mozart's Divertimento in B-flat Major. Her second
week as soloist is under Riccardo Muti, who conducts Schumann's Piano Concerto
and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5.
____________________________
Roosevelt University
Pacifica Quartet: Shostakovich Cycle
February 13, 2011, 2 and 7
pm
Ganz Hall, 430 S. Michigan
Ave, 7th floor
www.pacificaquartet.com, 847.242.0775
Shostakovich:
String Quartet Nos. 7, 10, 11, and 12
(See October 17 listing for
description)
____________________________
Symphony Center Presents
Chamber Music Series
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Ivari Ilja,
piano
Wednesday, February 16,
2011, 8 pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Program to include works by
Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Medtner
The great Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who last appeared on the Symphony Center Presents series in 2000, returns for a recital with Estonian pianist Ivari Ilja. Widely known for his commanding presence and burnished, passionate singing, Hvorostovsky brings a recital program to Chicago that includes songs by three Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Medtner.
____________________________
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of
Shakespeare
Mark Morris Dance Group
Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing
Arts Orchestra; Stefan Asbury, guest conductor
February 25 - 27, 2011
Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Drive
HarrisTheaterChicago.org,
312.334.7777
Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare
Original Score and Scenario by Sergey Prokofiev
New Choreography by Mark Morris
Maverick
choreographer Mark Morris and his company will perform the Chicago premiere of Romeo
& Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare, featuring Sergey Prokofiev's
original score and scenario. This new, fully-staged $1.1 million dance production, a
project with no parallel in ballet history, is commissioned by an international
consortium including the Harris Theater.
Since
its premier in 2008, the production has been the subject of considerable
controversy. Reviewing for The New York Times, Gia Kourlas wrote, "Perhaps
the most important point to keep in mind about Mark Morris's 'Romeo &
Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare' is that it's a dance, not a ballet. And
as such, it is created in Mr. Morris's modern manner... as a pledge of love, it
is as outspoken as Mr. Morris can be and wholly triumphant."
Prokofiev conceived Romeo
and Juliet in 1935, and in a radical gesture that caused a scandal among
Soviet ballet circles, he gave the ballet a happy ending. Soviet cultural
officials responded by canceling the premiere and forcing Prokofiev to make
significant changes to the ballet. This limited engagement restores the beauty of the original score,
with six new dance numbers, and more than 20 minutes of new music from
documents unearthed in Moscow by Princeton University musicologist Simon
Morrison. Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts Orchestra
with guest conductor Stefan Asbury will accompany Mark Morris Dance Group.
____________________________
Roosevelt University
Pacifica Quartet: Shostakovich Cycle
February 27, 2011, 2 and 7
pm
Ganz Hall, 430 S. Michigan
Ave, 7th floor
www.pacificaquartet.com, 847.242.0775
Shostakovich:
String Quartet Nos. 13, 14, and 15
(See October 17 listing for
description)
MARCH / SPRING 2011
Chicago Opera Theater
MOSCOW, CHERYOMUSHKI
Spring 2011
Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph Drive
ChicagoOperaTheater.org, 312.704.8414
Everyone is in for a hilarious surprise with this musical comedy that has recently been revived in Europe to blockbuster success. Cheryomushki means "bird-cherry trees," and was a real apartment complex in southwest Moscow during the 1950s. Shostakovich is taking a political poke at the chronic housing shortages of the day, with libretto help from two of the leading Soviet humorists at the time-- Vladimir Mass and Mikhail Chervinsky. Chicago Opera Theater presents only 4 performances of this great work at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.
____________________________
University
of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
University of Chicago
Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Schubert, Music
Director and Conductor
Saturday, March 5, 2011, 8 pm
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Music.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8069
Myaskovsky:
Symphony No. 22 in B minor, "Symphonic Ballad"
Shostakovich:
Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 77 / 99
Nicolai
Myaskovsky, often considered the "Father of the Soviet Symphony," composed
the 22nd of his 27 symphonies in 1941. This powerful and melodious work
was among the first symphonic responses to The Great Patriotic War (World War
II), predating Shostakovich's "Leningrad Symphony" by several months.
Dmitri
Shostakovich composed his Violin Concerto in A minor in 1947-48. He was
actually working on the piece at the time of the Zhdanov decree, which
condemned Shostakovich, Prokoviev, and others for "formalism" in
their musical writings. The concerto was finally premiered in 1955 -
after the decree was lifted and the work substantially revised - by violinist David
Oistrach and the Leningrad Philharmonic under the baton of Yevgeny
Mravinsky.
____________________________
Symphony Center Presents
Orchestra Series
St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Yuri Temirkanov, conductor
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 8
pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture, Op. 36
Shostakovich: Cello Concerto
No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E
Minor, Op. 95 (From the New World)
Eminent Russian conductor
Yuri Temirkanov brings his St. Petersburg Philharmonic to the Symphony
Center stage with a concert that features Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture, Shostakovich's
Cello Concerto No. 1 with American cellist Alisa Weilerstein and Dvořák's
Symphony No. 9 (From the New World).
The St. Petersburg Philharmonic is Russia's oldest orchestra, and
Temirkanov has been at its helm as artistic director and chief conductor since
1988.
APRIL 2011
Symphony Center Presents
Chamber Music Series
Yuri Bashmet,
viola
Evgeny Kissin, piano
Sunday, April 17, 2011, 3 pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Program to include:
Shostakovich: Viola Sonata,
Op. 147
Schubert: Sonata in A Minor,
D. 821 (Arpeggione)
Two of the greatest
musicians of our time, violist Yuri Bashmet and piano virtuoso Evgeny Kissin,
join forces and perform together at Symphony Center for the first time. Kissin
concludes his three-part Chicago residency with this duo-recital, performing a
stirring program that includes Shostakovich's Viola Sonata and Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
James Conlon,
conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 8
pm
Friday, April 22, 2011, 1:30
pm
Saturday, April 23, 2011, 8
pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Golijov: New Work (CSO
co-commission)
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in
D Minor, Op. 47
Shostakovich: Suite from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District
A regular artistic leader of
the CSO during its summer residency at Ravinia, James Conlon returns to
Symphony Center to lead the CSO in a subscription program for the first time
since the 2003/04 season. Leonidas Kavakos is the soloist in Sibelius' Violin
Concerto, and Conlon also conducts Shostakovich's Suite from Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.
The program opens with the first CSO performances of a new work by Osvaldo
Golijov, who completes his four-year term as a CSO Mead Composer-in-Residence
in the spring of 2010. The work was co-commissioned by the CSO and a consortium
of other U.S. orchestras to honor Henry Fogel, who was president of the CSO for
18 years.
MAY 2011
University of Chicago
Presents
Roberto Abbado, conductor; Leila Josefowicz,
violin
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Chicagopresents.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8068
Stravinsky: Concertino
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto
No. 1
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for
Strings
The Saint Paul Chamber
Orchestra will bring their University of Chicago residency to a tremendous
close with artistic partner Roberto Abbado at the helm. Violinist Leila
Josefowicz will make her Mandel Hall debut performing the Prokofiev Violin
Concerto No. 1.
____________________________
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Riccardo Muti, conductor
Thursday, May 5, 2011, 8 pm
Friday, May 6, 2011, 8 pm
Saturday, May 7, 2011, 8 pm
Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 7:30
pm
Symphony Center, 220 S.
Michigan Ave
CSO.org, 312.294.3000
Mussorgsky: A Night on Bald Mountain
Strauss: Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24
Prokofiev: Suite from Romeo and Juliet
Muti brings the concerts of
his inaugural season to a close with two distinctive programs. Mussorgsky's A Night on Bald Mountain, Strauss' Death and Transfiguration and a suite from
Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet are
featured on the May 5-10 concerts.
JULY 2011
The
Art Institute of Chicago
Windows on the War: Soviet
TASS Posters at Home and Abroad 1941-45
July
30 - October 23, 2011
The
Art Institute of Chicago, Regenstein Hall, 111 South Michigan Avenue
www.artinstituteofchicago.org, 312.443.3600
Windows
on the War is a monumental
exhibition of the posters designed by the Soviet Union's news agency to bolster
the morale of citizens, rouse the fighting forces at the front, and intimidate
opponents behind enemy lines. Not seen in the United States since World War II,
the TASS posters are boldly designed collaborations between leading Soviet
writers and artists marking the progress of the war. Often six feet tall and
always striking, they also served as international cultural "ambassadors" to
rally nations and organizations behind the Soviet cause. They are presented at
the Art Institute both as unique historical objects and as works of art that
reveal how the pre-eminent artists and writers of the day contributed to the
war effort, marking a major chapter in the history of design and propaganda.
AUGUST 2011
Smart Museum of Art
Process and Artistry in the Soviet
Vanguard
August 30 - December 11,
2011
Smart Museum of Art,
University of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave
smartmuseum.uchicago.edu,
773.702.0200
This intimate exhibition
offers a rare glimpse at the experimental creative processes that generated
iconic Soviet propaganda imagery in the 1920s and 1930s. Featuring works by El
Lissitsky, Valentina Kulagina, and Gustav Klutsis, it traces classic
compositions from initial collage-drawings to approved designs to mass-produced
posters.
SEPTEMBER / FALL 2011
Block Museum of Art
Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons
Fall 2011
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern
University, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu, 847.491.4000
Coming 20 years after the fall of the USSR, Views and Re-Views invites a post-Cold
War assessment of Soviet graphic arts with 160 posters, cartoons, postcards and
photomontages from a private collection. Featuring bold and stunning imagery
spanning more than six decades, the exhibition suggests that artistic merit and
stylistic diversity can be found in work created as state propaganda and that
not all of the criticisms of the West by Soviet political artists were
completely spurious or inauthentic.
____________________________
Block Museum of Art
Tango with Cows: Book Art of the Russian Avant-Garde, 1910-1917
Fall 2011
Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern
University, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu, 847.491.4000
Tango
with Cows examines book art created in response to the
social, cultural and political crises of early 20th-century Russia. Often
working collaboratively, poets and artists designed pages in which
rubber-stamped poetry characterized by nonsensical word combinations shared
space with archaic and modern scripts and with primitive and abstract
imagery.
____________________________
Special Collections Research
Center, The University of Chicago Library
Adventures in the Soviet Imaginary
September - December 2011
Special Collections Research
Center, The University of Chicago Library, 1100 East 57th Street
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/, 773.702.8705
Adventures in the Soviet Imaginary showcases collections of Soviet children's books,
posters and other print materials from the Special Collections Research Center,
The University of Chicago Library. The exhibition is being organized by a team
of faculty and graduate students of the University of Chicago based in the
departments of Art History, History, and
Slavic Languages and Literatures. Drawing on these diverse backgrounds and
approaches, each participant is designing one or more display cases to be devoted
to a specific topic, including prominent historical and ideological themes,
stylistic features, and the contributions of individual authors or artists.
____________________________
Smart Museum of Art
Vision and Communism
September 29, 2011 - January
22, 2012
Smart Museum of Art,
University of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave
smartmuseum.uchicago.edu,
773.702.0200
In captivating images of
far-away suffering, the postwar artist and designer Victor Koretsky articulated
a Communist vision of the world that was utterly unlike that of conventional
propaganda. Designed to create an emotional connection between Soviet citizens
and others around the globe, Koretsky's posters offered a meaningful
alternative to the West's sleek consumerism, heralding the multicultural visual
world of Benetton and MTV. Drawn from an extensive private collection of Soviet
art and propaganda, Vision and Communism presents
a striking new interpretation of visual communication in the U.S.S.R. and in
the latter half of the twentieth century more broadly.
OCTOBER 2011
University of Chicago
Presents
Borodin Quartet
Friday, October 21, 2011
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Chicagopresents.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8068
Program information to be
announced.
Commanding a special
position in the chamber music world, the Borodin Quartet's particular affinity
with Russian repertoire was stimulated by a close relationship with
Shostakovich, who personally supervised its study of each of his quartets.
Formed in 1945 by four students at the Moscow Conservatory the Quartet is
marking their 65th anniversary in 2009/10 with an extensive world
tour.
NOVEMBER 2011
University of Chicago
Presents
Sergey Khachatryan, violin; Lusine Khachatryan, piano
Friday, November 4, 2011
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Chicagopresents.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8068
J.S. Bach: Violin Sonata No.
4 in C minor, BWV1017
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 2
in A major, op. 100
Shostakovich: Sonata for
Violin and Piano
Winner of the Sibelius and Queen Elizabeth competitions, Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan will make his Chicago recital debut with sister Lusine at the keyboard. The duo released their recording of the Shostakovich and Franck Violin Sonatas on the Naïve Classique label in 2008. Rounding out the recital are sonatas by Brahms and Bach, for which The Guardian raved, "his performance revealed a staggering control and maturity, and its effect was at once magical and chastening."
DECEMBER 2011
University
of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
University of Chicago
Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Schubert, Music Director and
Conductor
Saturday, December 3, 2011, 8 pm
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th
Street
Music.uchicago.edu,
773.702.8069
Shostakovich:
Symphony
No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60, "Leningrad"
Dmitri
Shostakovich completed his Symphony No. 7 on 27 December 1941, dedicating it to
the city of Leningrad in explicit condemnation of the German invasion of the
Soviet Union and the ongoing siege of Leningrad. In its time, the work
was extremely popular in both Russia and the West as a symbol of citizen
resistance and defiance to Nazi totalitarianism and militarism. After the
war the symphony's reputation declined substantially, primarily because of its
public perception as war propaganda and the increasingly prevalent (but now
outdated) view that it was one of Shostakovich's less accomplished works.
The
USO's performance of this monumental work will be preceded by a
lecture-demonstration of the historical context and musical substance of the
symphony itself, and of its place within Shostakovich's oeuvre.
FESTIVAL
PARTNERS
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
MEDIA: Erin Hogan, 312.443.3664, ehogan@artic.edu
The
Art Institute of Chicago is a world-renowned art museum housing one of the
largest permanent collections in the United States. An encyclopedic museum, the
Art Institute collects, preserves, and displays works in every medium from all
cultures and historical periods as well as hosts special exhibitions. With a
collection of more than 260,000 art works and artifacts, the museum has
particularly strong holdings in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting,
early 20th century European painting and sculpture, contemporary
art, Japanese prints, and photography. The museum just completed the largest
expansion in its 130-year history, the internationally acclaimed Modern Wing
designed by Renzo Piano. The Modern Wing features the latest in green museum
technology and 264,000 square feet dedicated to modern and contemporary art, photography,
architecture and design, and new museum education facilities. For more
information about the Art Institute of Chicago, visit www.artinstituteofchicago.org
BLOCK MUSEUM OF ART
MEDIA: Burke Patten,
847.467.4602, bpatten@northwestern.edu
The Mary and Leigh Block
Museum of Art, Northwestern University, is dedicated to the growth and
preservation of its collection and the study and exhibition of reproducible art
forms - including prints, photographs, film, video, and computer-mediated art -
and to their capacity to reach and transform society. For more information
about the Block Museum of Art, visit www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
CHICAGO COLLEGE OF PERFORMING ARTS, ROOSEVELT
UNIVERSITY
MEDIA: Robert Strong, President,
Pacifica Quartet Music Foundation, 847.242.0775, strong.robert@yahoo.com
One of Roosevelt
University's six colleges, Chicago College of Performing Arts was founded in
1867 and is led by Henry Fogel, Dean. It has played an important role in the
development of the cultural life of the Midwest and now provides professional
conservatory training in theater, music, and music education. The faculty of
the Music Conservatory, directed by Associate Dean Linda Berna, has many
members who hold prominent positions in the Chicago musical community as well
as nationally recognized performers from other cultural capitals. Its graduates
perform with major orchestras and chamber ensembles and become educators,
conductors, composers, and critics. Roosevelt University is a national leader
in educating socially conscious citizens for active and dedicated lives as
leaders in their professions and their communities. Visit ccpa.roosevelt.edu.
CHICAGO OPERA THEATER
MEDIA: Colleen Flanigan, 312.704.8420
x225, cflanigan@ChicagoOperaTheater.org
Founded in 1974,
Chicago Opera Theater has carved a
significant place for itself in the operatic life of Chicago and has reached an
audience of hundreds of thousands. Since Brian Dickie's appointment as General Director in 1999, COT has
evolved as an opera company that is young, fresh, and colorful. The Chicago Reader recently called COT,
"Chicago's most interesting opera company." For more information about Chicago
Opera Theater, visit www.ChicagoOperaTheater.org
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MEDIA: Raechel Alexander,
312.294.3093, AlexanderR@cso.org
The Chicago
Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of today's leading
orchestras. Live performances by the CSO are much in demand at home and in the
most prestigious musical venues around the world. In collaboration with
preeminent conductors and guest artists on the international music scene, the
CSO performs well over 150 concerts each year at its downtown home, Symphony
Center, and at the Ravinia Festival on Chicago's North Shore, where it is in
residence each summer. With the launch of its Institute for Learning, Access
and Training, the CSO engages more than 150,000 Chicago-area residents
annually. Music lovers outside Chicago enjoy the sounds of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra not only through its Chicago Symphony Orchestra Radio Broadcast
Series and best-selling recordings on its highly acclaimed record label CSO
Resound, but also through frequent sold-out tour performances in the United
States and around the globe. Since 1971, the CSO has undertaken 36 overseas
tours: 27 to Europe, six to the Far East, as well as one each to Russia,
Australia and South America. For more information about the CSO, visit www.cso.org.
HARRIS THEATER FOR MUSIC AND DANCE
MEDIA: Cheryl
Shure, 312.334.2405, cshure@harristheaterchicago.org
Opened in 2003, the Harris
Theater's mission is to partner and collaborate with an array of Chicago's
emerging and mid-sized performing arts organizations to help them build the
resources and infrastructure necessary to achieve artistic growth and long-term
organizational sustainability. The Harris Theater for Music and Dance was the first multi-use performing arts venue to be built in
the Chicago downtown area since 1929. Today, the Theater continues
to host the most diverse offerings of any venue in Chicago, featuring the
city's world-renowned music and dance institutions and the Harris Theater Presents series of acclaimed national and
international companies. For more information about the Harris Theater for
Music and Dance, visit www.HarrisTheaterChicago.org
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MEDIA: Rashida Black, 773.702.3427, rashida@uchicago.edu
The
106-member University Symphony Orchestra
presents an ambitious season of six major concerts per year (two each
quarter). Known for its imaginative presentations of unusual repertoire
as well as for its powerful performances of major symphonic literature, the
University Symphony opens each year with a costumed Halloween concert - a
family-friendly event enhanced by storytelling, dancing, and special effects -
and closes with a celebratory year-end collaboration with the combined
choirs. Repertoire generally encompasses 19th- and 20th- century works
written for large orchestral forces, including masterpieces by Beethoven,
Bruckner, Dvorák, Mahler, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, and more,
as well as unusual treasures of the repertoire. In recent years the USO
has presented several silent films with live orchestral accompaniment,
including Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky and Battleship
Potemkin, and performed with acclaimed professional soloists, including
bassist Edgar Meyer and pianist Jade Simmons. USO musicians are coached
by the Pacifica
Quartet and members of the Saint Paul
Chamber Orchestra. Membership is chosen on the basis of
competitive auditions, and includes undergraduate and graduate students from
all divisions of the University, faculty and staff, alumni, and community
members. For more information
about the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra, visit music.uchicago.edu
SMART MUSEUM OF ART
MEDIA: C.J. Lind, 773.702.0176, cjlind@uchiacgo.edu
As the art museum of the
University of Chicago, the Smart Museum of Art takes a distinctly
interdisciplinary approach to the collection, display, and interpretation of
art. Founded in 1974, the Smart Museum is home to acclaimed special exhibitions
and a permanent collection that spans five thousand years of artistic creation.
Working in close collaboration with scholars from the University of Chicago,
the Smart has established itself as a leading academic art museum and an engine
of adventurous thinking about the visual arts and their place in society.
Admission is always free. For more information about the Smart Museum of Art,
visit smartmuseum.uchicago.edu
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS RESEARCH CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF
CHICAGO LIBRARY
MEDIA: Rachel Rosenberg, 773.834.1519,
ra-rosenberg@uchicago.edu
The University of Chicago Library provides
world-renowned collections and resources and comprehensive services that
support the research, teaching and learning needs of the University and broader
research community. The Library provides hospitable physical and virtual
environments that help researchers and students discover and use local and
global information resources. Its librarians develop innovative ways to use new
technologies to preserve, locate, and deliver resources, facilitating
intellectual growth and groundbreaking research. The Special Collections
Research Center--the principal steward of the Library's rare books, manuscripts,
and archives--welcomes all interested researchers and presents physical and
online exhibitions. For more information, visit www.lib.uchicago.edu
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESENTS
MEDIA: Kennon Brown,
773.834.7965, kennon@uchicago.edu
UCP was founded in 1943 with
the goal of bringing to Chicago world-renowned artists for concerts and
educational programs. Heralded by the Chicago
Tribune as "a model of what a classical concert series should be," and "the
city's most important by a mile chamber music series" by the Chicago Sun-Times, UCP has been
dedicated throughout its history to its mission to present music on an intimate
scale at the highest level. The pursuit of excellence is central to this
mission, infusing not only the music UCP presents but also its relationship
with its audience and community. For more information about University of
Chicago Presents, visit chicagopresents.uchicago.edu
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