THE MAGICAL CHORUS: A HISTORY OF RUSSIAN CULTURE FROM TOLSTOY TO SOLZHENITSYN, by Solomon Volkov, translated from Russian by Antonina W. Bouis, Knopf, 335 pages, $30.
The author has written several notable books about Russian culture, including "Shostakovich and Stalin," about a musical genius interacting with the most brutal dictator in world history.
He has been a cultural commentator for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, discussing artistic development in Russia. He now lives in New York City.
In this unique and informative book, the author discusses the gifted artists who emanated from the Soviet Union, namely writers such as Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Boris Pasternak and Joseph Brodsky and composers such as Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev, Mikhail Vrubel, Fedor Chaliapin, Pavel Filonov and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Volkov believes that most Russian artists have shown demonstrable interest in good government, even when their work did not reflect it.
One notable exception is the playwright, Anton Chekhov. Tolstoy compared Chekhov's prose style to the impressionists — "You watch a man seemingly smear whatever paints come to hand without any selection, and the strokes seem to have no relationship to each other. But you step back a bit and look, and the whole forms a complete impression."
Overall, though, Tolstoy had no respect for Chekhov's work. He said to him, "I can't stand your plays. Shakespeare wrote badly, and you're even worse!"
A major influence on acting and drama was Konstantin Stanislavsky, the originator of the so-called "method acting" that became so popular in the United States as practiced by actors like Marlon Brando.
Most of the Russian artists, writes Volkov, believed that the word intelligent was vitally important to serving mankind, fighting for justice and freedom. Therefore, a great many of their works reflected that interest.
As a natural result, Russian artists had many confrontations with typically authoritarian government leaders from Tsar Nicholas II to Josef Stalin. Allegedly, Stalin had the occasional ability to show mercy on intellectuals — he didn't have them all killed, although it was said by those involved in letters that "Stalin kept Russia's prisons and graveyards well stocked with intellectuals."
Stalin, above all other Russian leaders, feared Western influence on the Russian culture. He thought American influence particularly dangerous and onerous. He favored the consistent isolation of Russian culture, which is not something that intellectuals ever favor. He constantly worried about the infiltration into the culture of people he called "saboteurs."
Thus, the seeds of discord continued to be sewn between artists and politicians. There was always a huge difference in the level of intelligence of the two groups as well. This was true even when Stalin referred to a "cultural renaissance" and gave awards to a few artists.
When Stalin decided that Mikhail Sholokhov deserved the Stalin Prize for his three-book novel, "The Quiet Don," he discovered to his satisfaction that Sholokhov was not as he had been charged, a plagiarist, and that his version of life in Russia coincided with the communist revolution.
This epic book about Russian artists always blends with the attitudes or sanctions of Russian leaders, who kept a close eye on the various geniuses of the 20th century. They tried to use them or abuse them to their satisfaction.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com