After the Thaw

After the Thaw By Leon Botstein Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. One overtly benign but distinguishing feature of the Soviet Union was its commitment to and investment in aspects of high culture, notably music. From the early 1920s, first under Lenin…

Alexander Lokshin, Symphony No. 4 By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. If the name and music of Alexander Lokshin (1920-87) are unfamiliar to Western audiences, they are not much better known in his native Russia. Despite producing a…

Boris Tchaikovsky, Concerto for Cello and Symphonic Orchestra By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. His surname notwithstanding, Moscow native Boris Tchaikovsky (1925-96) was not born into a family of musicians; he bore no relation to his illustrious namesake.…

Boris Tishchenko, Symphony No. 5, Op. 67 By Laurel E. Fay Written for the concert After the Thaw, performed on Feb 24, 2010 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The death of Dmitri Shostakovich in 1975 left no Soviet composer unaffected. Many of them—representing all generations and stylistic inclinations—wrote pieces to pay homage to…