Selected text
Since 1956 I was head of the literature department of Odessa Philharmonic. My lectures on the history of music were popular, and there were posters advertising them all over the town. I lectured in a concert gown that a dressmaker I knew made for me. In summer, Philharmonic crews toured rural areas. These crews usually consisted of a lecturer, a male and a female singer, a violinist, a pianist and sometimes an elocutionist. We toured mainly to the southern areas of Odessa region: Izmail, Reni and Bolgrad. The public was very nice in Reni; there was a military settlement there, and many officers and their wives looked forward to the concerts.
Once a local newspaper wrote about my lecture. It said: 'A girl with blue eyes came onto the stage to lecture...' It was more difficult with holiday makers in Odessa recreation centers where we also toured giving concerts. Holiday makers were waiting for dancing parties, rather than lectures about classical music. I was proud when I managed to capture their attention.
In the late 1950s I became a real sportswoman. I was an amateur swimmer, but as for badminton, I took every effort to master it and received the 3rd grade. I was more proud of it than of my dissertation. My husband and I used to take cycling tours out of town.
In 1958 I began to teach at the Conservatory. There was more freedom there at the time. They began to teach Shostakovich to students and I believed it to be a clear symbol of Khrushchev's thaw [23]. [Shostakovich, Dmitriy Dmitrievich, (1906 - 1975): famous composer of the 20th century. His work had been greatly criticized because of "anti- popular formalism" in the Soviet official press from the 1930s to the 1940s.] During this period, music was more popular than literature. Theatrical life in Odessa became more active, and my husband and I were theater-goers. We attended all skit performances at the house of actors. They were rather sharp. I particularly remember the one telling how a former warden of a prison became director of an opera theater. Sometimes we participated in those performances.
I had an ambivalent attitude toward Khrushchev. Undoubtedly, at that time denunciation of the cult was valued highly. Later, of course, we laughed a little about our leader's lack of culture. Our friends were musicians, journalists and artists of Odessa, all intelligent people. I had many Jewish and Russian musicians among my acquaintances. My friends were teachers at the conservatory: Maria Starkova, Alexandr Kogan, the wonderful violinists Marik Zinger, who lives in America now, and Sima Yaroshevich, who moved to Israel. I met Dmitriy Shostakovich several times. When the 14th symphony of Shostakovich was played in Odessa I wrote a review of it, and the journalist Lyosha Zimerfeld sent it to Shostakovich, who wrote back to me. I often met with Shostakovich in the Leningrad Conservatory. He was an uncommonly educated person, very vulnerable and strict at the same time.
I traveled to Moscow and Leningrad every year looking for artistic impressions, visiting theaters and exhibitions. I went on my first tour abroad in 1960. It was in Czechoslovakia. We walked around Prague at night singing songs loudly. A policeman stopped us very politely and said: 'You know, it's nighttime and people are asleep. It's not a proper thing to do.' There was a very good attitude toward us. This was before the Prague events [Prague Spring] [24]. I traveled there alone. I wasn't allowed to travel with my husband.
Once a local newspaper wrote about my lecture. It said: 'A girl with blue eyes came onto the stage to lecture...' It was more difficult with holiday makers in Odessa recreation centers where we also toured giving concerts. Holiday makers were waiting for dancing parties, rather than lectures about classical music. I was proud when I managed to capture their attention.
In the late 1950s I became a real sportswoman. I was an amateur swimmer, but as for badminton, I took every effort to master it and received the 3rd grade. I was more proud of it than of my dissertation. My husband and I used to take cycling tours out of town.
In 1958 I began to teach at the Conservatory. There was more freedom there at the time. They began to teach Shostakovich to students and I believed it to be a clear symbol of Khrushchev's thaw [23]. [Shostakovich, Dmitriy Dmitrievich, (1906 - 1975): famous composer of the 20th century. His work had been greatly criticized because of "anti- popular formalism" in the Soviet official press from the 1930s to the 1940s.] During this period, music was more popular than literature. Theatrical life in Odessa became more active, and my husband and I were theater-goers. We attended all skit performances at the house of actors. They were rather sharp. I particularly remember the one telling how a former warden of a prison became director of an opera theater. Sometimes we participated in those performances.
I had an ambivalent attitude toward Khrushchev. Undoubtedly, at that time denunciation of the cult was valued highly. Later, of course, we laughed a little about our leader's lack of culture. Our friends were musicians, journalists and artists of Odessa, all intelligent people. I had many Jewish and Russian musicians among my acquaintances. My friends were teachers at the conservatory: Maria Starkova, Alexandr Kogan, the wonderful violinists Marik Zinger, who lives in America now, and Sima Yaroshevich, who moved to Israel. I met Dmitriy Shostakovich several times. When the 14th symphony of Shostakovich was played in Odessa I wrote a review of it, and the journalist Lyosha Zimerfeld sent it to Shostakovich, who wrote back to me. I often met with Shostakovich in the Leningrad Conservatory. He was an uncommonly educated person, very vulnerable and strict at the same time.
I traveled to Moscow and Leningrad every year looking for artistic impressions, visiting theaters and exhibitions. I went on my first tour abroad in 1960. It was in Czechoslovakia. We walked around Prague at night singing songs loudly. A policeman stopped us very politely and said: 'You know, it's nighttime and people are asleep. It's not a proper thing to do.' There was a very good attitude toward us. This was before the Prague events [Prague Spring] [24]. I traveled there alone. I wasn't allowed to travel with my husband.
Location
Ukraine
Interview
rimma rozenberg