16. Surikov, Pis’ma. Vospominaniia, p. 187.
17. Quoted from A. Gozenpud, Russkii operny teatr na rubezhe XIX-XX vekov i F. I. Shaliapin. 1890–1904 [Russian opera at the turn of the twentieth century and F. I. Chaliapin, 1890–1904] (Leningrad, 1974), p. 28.
18. Benua, Moi vospominaniia, vols. 1–3, p. 650.
CHAPTER 14
Nicholas II and Lenin as Art Connoisseurs
1. See, for instance, M. K. Kasvinov, Dvadtsat’ tri stupeni vniz [Twenty-three steps down] (Moscow, 1978), pp. 82, 128.
2. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Publitsistika [Essays on society and politics], in three volumes, vol. 3 (Yaroslavl, 1997), p. 332.
3. Teatr,12 (1992), p. 127.
4. Quoted from the collection V. I. Lenin o literature [V. I. Lenin on literature] (Moscow, 1971), p. 226.
5. Quoted from Literaturnoe nasledstvo [Literary heritage], vol. 65 (Moscow, 1958), p. 210.
6. A. V. Lunacharskii, Vospominaniia i vpechatleniia [Memoirs and impressions] (Moscow, 1969), p. 195.
7. Quoted from S. K. Bogoiavlenskii, Moskovskii teatr pri tsariakh Aleksee i Petre [Muscovite theater under Tsars Alexis and Peter] (Moscow, 1914), p. 19.
8. Matil’da Kshesinskaia, Vospominaniia [Memoirs] (Moscow, 1992), p. 29.
9. Ibid., p. 48.
10. Nicholas II, Dnevniki [Journals] (Moscow, 2007), p. 13.
11. M. Gor’kii, Literaturnye portrety [Literary portraits] (Moscow, 1983), p. 40.
12. George Balanchine, in conversation with the author.
13. Gor’kii, p. 37.
14. Quoted from Lev Tolstoi i muzyka. Khronika. Notografiia. Bibliografiia [Leo Tolstoy and music: Chronicle, bibliography of musical scores, bibliography] (Moscow, 1977), p. 22.
15. Quoted from A. G. Latyshev, Rassekrechennyi Lenin [Lenin declassified] (Moscow, 1996), p. 291.
16. V. I. Lenin o literature [V. I. Lenin on literature] (Moscow, 1971), p. 254.
17. Maria Dobrowen, in conversation with the author.
18. Quoted from the collection Prometei [Prometheus], vol.8 (Moscow, 1971), p. 61.
19. See L. Freidkina, Dni i gody V. I. Nemirovicha-Danchenko [Life of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko] (Moscow, 1962), p. 219; I. Solov’eva, Nemirovich-Danchenko [Nemirovich-Danchenko] (Moscow, 1979), pp. 211–12.
20. Quotes from Simon Dreiden, Spektakli. Roli. Sud’by [Plays, roles, and destinies] (Moscow, 1978), p. 22.
21. Quoted from M. N. Stroeva, Rezhisserskie iskaniia Stanislavskogo. 1898–1917 [Directorial pursuits of Stanislavsky, 1898–1917] (Moscow, 1973), p. 304.
22. Quoted from Literaturnoe nasledstvo [Literary heritage], vol. 72 (Moscow, 1965), p. 539.
23. Lenin o literature, p. 263.
24. Grazhdanin, 3 March 1902.
25. Quoted from Letopis’ zhizni i tvorchestva A. M. Gor’kogo [Chronicle of the life and work of A. M. Gorky], part 1 (Moscow, 1958), p. 372.
26. Quoted from Russkaia literatura kontsa XIX–nachala XX v. 1901–1907 [Russian literature at the turn of the twentieth century: 1901–1907] (Moscow, 1971), p. 373.
27. Lenin o literature, pp. 148, 150.
28. Ibid., pp. 157–58.
29. See Bol’shaia tsenzura: Pisateli i zhurnalisty v Strane Sovetov. 1917–1956 [Censorship on a grand scale: Writers and journalists in the Soviet Union, 1917–1956] (Moscow, 2005), p. 29.
30. Prometei [Prometheus], vol. 8, p. 61.
31. M. Gor’kii, V. I. Lenin (Moscow, 1974), p. 7. (Quotations hereafter taken from this edition.)
32. Natan Altman, in conversation with the author.
33. Abram Efros, Profili [Profiles] (Moscow, 1994), p. 15.
34. See S. I. Grigor’ev, Pridvornaia tsenzura i obraz Verkhovnoi vlasti (1831–1917) [Court censorship and the image of the Crown, 1831–1917] (St. Petersburg, 2007).
35. Quoted from Valentin Serov v vospominaniiakh, dnevnikakh i perepiske sovremennikov [Valentin Serov in the memoirs, diaries, and correspondence of his contemporaries], vol. 2 (Leningrad, 1971), p. 296.
36. Valentin Serov v perepiske, dokumentakh i interv’iu [Valentin Serov in correspondence, documents, and interviews], vol. 2 (Leningrad, 1989), pp. 6–7.
37. Aleksandr Benua, Moi vospominaniia [My memoirs], in five volumes, vols. 1–3, p. 634.
38. Ibid.
39. Viktor Shklovsky, in conversation with the author.
40. This and subsequent quotations from V. I. Lenin, Lev Tolstoi, kak zerkalo russkoi revoliutsii [Leo Tolstoy as a mirror of the Russian Revolution] (Moscow, 1970).
41. Quoted from the collection Pod sozvezdiem topora: Petrograd 1917 goda—znakomyi i neznakomyi [Under the sign of the ax: Petrograd, 1917—the familiar and the unknown] (Moscow, 1991), p. 50.
42. Ibid., p. 56.
43. V. V. Rozanov, Nesovmestimye kontrasty zhitiia. Literaturno-esteticheskie raboty raznykh let [Life’s incompatible contradictions: Literary-aesthetic works of various dates] (Moscow, 1990), p. 553.
44. Ibid., p. 546.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Solomon Volkov is the award-winning author of several notable books about Russian culture, including The Magical Chorus, St. Petersburg: A Cultural History, and Shostakovich and Stalin, published worldwide. After moving to the United States from the Soviet Union, he became a cultural commentator for Voice of America and later for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, broadcasting to the Soviet Union (and, later, Russia), where he discussed contemporary artistic developments in his former homeland. He lives in New York City with his wife, Marianna.
A NOTE ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
The prizewinning translator Antonina W. Bouis is known for her work with contemporary Russian literature.