Russian Propaganda Art!
Mar 8th, 2010 by Micah Tillman | 4 Comments |
The Wife, and the Sister-in-Law, and I went to see the Marinsky Opera’s version of Prokofiev’s operatic adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace yesterday at the government-run Kennedy Center yesterday.
It was very good. The staging was marvelous, the music was wonderful (I like Prokofiev, evidently), and it was cool to hear so much Russian — it was performed entirely in Russian by real live Russians, and there were lots of Russian-speaking attendees there (some sitting right behind us).
The opera, written by Prokofiev in the early 1940s, makes you proud to be a Russian. Russia is repeatedly referred to as “sacred,” “holy,” and “mother.” The singers insist over and over again upon their devotion to Russia, and upon the glory of Russia.
It is, in short, heavy on Russian/Russo-Centric patriotic propaganda.
This was especially interesting in light of the fact that the Kennedy Center is a US government-created and -run institution. Its Board of Trustees has 36 “Members Appointed by the President of the United States” (including such notables as Norman Mineta and Condoleezza Rice) and 22 “Members Ex Officio Designated by Act of Congress” (including such notables as Sec. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Sec. Kathleen Sebelius, Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Mitch McConnell, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. John Boehner, and DC Mayor Adrian Fenty).
So, it was both a great experience, and a little ironic.
Well, there you are! Americans – high-ranking officials, even – supporting Russians, as long as they are “tame,” which is to say singing their little Mother-Russia-loving hearts out.
Like you, I like Prokofiev, too, so those big choruses get me every time.
Plus…on my first visit to Russia, in the early 1970s (when you were still supervised by Intourist every step – and I mean every step – of the way) when I first saw the Russian forests and countryside, I could understand why “they” seemed to think that the air simply wasn’t worth breathing anywhere else. Obviously I do breathe elsewhere, but, still, I do understand. Prokofiev vivat!
Everyone should be able to say of her or his native land, “This is the best country in the world,” just as everyone should be able to say of her or his parents, “I have the best parents in the world.” Anyone who can’t say that has either been deprived of a basic human right, or has yet to learn how to balance the critical and antiquarian approaches to history.
There’s something good and right about knowing that people the world over love their lands as much as (some) Americans love theirs. Each part of the world needs somebody to love it. (I think that’s part of the “filling” and “having dominion” that God talks about in Genesis 1.)
And it is one thing that makes America groovy. I was raised during the cold war, yet we live in a country where today I could happily go watch a Russian opera if I had the chance and read Russian novels (well, not happily there) and listen to Russian classical music. Something about loving our enemies and finding God’s handiwork in all kinds of places.
Excellent point there, Mother. :-)
And it requires strength. The less you feel threatened by your enemies, the more you are able to embrace/love them. But not feeling threatened by your enemies is a significant accomplishment.