On Thursday, June 8 in new York ended with «Russian seasons» in October last year held at the legendary Manhattan Nicholas Roerich Museum, which houses the largest U.S. collection of paintings by Nicholas Roerich and several works by his son Svyatoslav.
In this project every second Thursday of the month was held literary and musical salons, became so popular that to get to them was almost impossible. The event was attended by famous Russian-American writers and musicians, and it all happened surrounded by the stunning paintings of a great artist.
By the way, the name of the project is rather symbolic, as during the famous «Russian seasons» by Sergei Diaghilev in Paris in 1910-ies it was Nicholas Roerich designed the scenery for many productions.
The masterminds behind new York’s «Russian seasons» were the founders of the Russian-American publishing KRiK Publishing House, under the patronage of which was held all events. This is a poet, journalist, TV and radio presenter, editor and culture-Gennady Katsev and his wife Rika.
«The main idea of the project was that in the center of new York, in Manhattan, in the entourage of Roerich were living in the United States the Russian-speaking writers and musicians. Here is the unity of the Russian music school with modern Russian literature» – said Gennady Katsev.
Photo: KRiK Publishing House
«Our main goal was to demonstrate how diverse and talented those who are in America called «Russian» immigrants from the former Soviet Union. On our evening was the work of living in the United States of Russian-speaking writers and musicians working in very different, sometimes diametrically opposed directions,» added Rick Katsova.
Indeed, among participants in the project have come from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus. So that the participants can be called international, but they all have in common is that they speak and write in Russian.
As noted by Gennady Katsev, currently the US is home to a huge number of highly qualified Russian-speaking musicians, and the situation in the literature it compares with what happened in Prague and Berlin in the 1920’s and early 1930-ies of the last century.
«I live in new York in may 1989, but this high concentration of writers and poets, without exaggeration, the second and the first row in the current Russian literature, I do not remember, – he said.
All of the evening «Russian seasons» was held with the same notice.
«The reason for such interest in this project – the idea is marked as «Russian seasons in the Nicholas Roerich Museum». Certainly, it attracts and the Museum, which many new Yorkers know, but even more – had no idea,» – said Gennady Katsev.
The closing of Seasons, in which the writer made himself Gennady Katsev, was no exception.
At the closing of the «Russian seasons» he read his poems, written in different years since arrival in the United States in 1989 to the present day.
Photo: KRiK Publishing House
Read poetic texts was dedicated to family, human relationships, natural phenomena and, as stated in his poem about immigration to the United States, «the country, that without blood they let me go And now this, that just accepted me».
Gennady Katsev was well known in the literary circles of Moscow in the 1980s. In particular, as one of the founders of the legendary Moscow club «Poetry» and a member of the literary group «Epsilon-Salon». However, upon arrival in the United States, he worked mainly journalism and essays. In literature, as he himself admits there just wasn’t time.
In 2011, after nearly 18-year hiatus, he returned to literary activity, and for the past 6 years, the light came several of his poetry collections. A large part of the presentations made at the evening of poetry belongs to this period.
Together with Gennady Kozovym in the final evening of the «Russian seasons» took part in the world famous clarinettist Julian Milkis and accordionist Alexander Sevastian, who played in the Duo, as well as cellist and composer Ian Maksin.
Julian Milkis is one of the world’s leading clarinetists are well known in the field of classical and jazz music. Milkis, the only pupil of the legendary «king of swing» benny Goodman. He has toured the world, so get on his statement in new York – a great success.
By the way, the other two musicians arrived in the Big Apple solely to participate in the closure of the «Russian seasons». Multiple winner of the most prestigious competitions of accordionists Alexander Sevastian arrived from Toronto, and received international recognition for his unique and innovative style of cello Ian Maksin – from Chicago.
The program included music of Giya Kancheli, Astor Piazzolla and Johann Sebastian Bach and a work by Russian-American composer Ilya Levinson and several compositions of Jan Maxine. The finale was a duet of Milkis and Sebastian encore «Lacrimosa» by Mozart.
Earlier in the framework of the project were writers Alexander Genis, Olga Isaeva and Slava Polishchuk; poets Vladimir Gandelsman, Pavel Grushko, Anna Halberstadt, Probstein Yang, Marina Temkina, Gary light and Grigory Starikovsky, as well as representatives of the literary dynasty of David shrayer-Petrov and his son Maxim D. Shrayer. In the musical part of the project was attended by pianist Julia Zilberquit, Elena Kushnerova, Eugene Piliavin and piano Duo of Svetlana Gorokhovich and Irina Portenko, violin Igor pikayzen and Arthur Kaganovskiy and cellist Sergey Antonov.
Thus, the «Russian seasons» in Museum of Nicholas Roerich ended. The organizers admitted that the success of the project exceeded all expectations.
Photo: KRiK Publishing House
«Such is the unity of the Russian word and musical mastery throughout the theatrical season in new York was for the first time» – said Gennady Katsev.
However, the question of further development of the project, he could not give a definite answer.
«Will there be a continuation of the «Russian seasons» in the Roerich Museum in the same capacity, or in some different form today, the answer can not give. – said Gennady Katsev. – Need for this kind of distance, that is, complete first season, take a break and move away from what instantly became history, but we’ll see.»
It remains to note that the «Russian seasons» in the Roerich Museum – this is the third notable project of the publishing house KRiK Publishing House that was founded a few years ago. It has released international poetry anthology «NASHKRYM» with poems about the Crimea 120 authors from 10 countries, which caused a wide resonance because of its provocative title. Two years ago, the publisher launched a bilingual (Russian-English) of the poetic series «Russian word without borders», which already includes texts with English translations of the modern Russian poets, Alexander Kushner, Evgeny Bunimovich and Alex Parshikov.
