On this day, 80 years ago...

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  • Serial_Apologist
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 37641

    On this day, 80 years ago...

    Shostakovitch's opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" was banned on order from Stalin, we were told on Today, today.

    Today, they'd just have said, "Sorry mate we're not putting it on - there's no market for that kind of stuff".
  • ferneyhoughgeliebte
    Gone fishin'
    • Sep 2011
    • 30163

    #2
    The Opera had been a huge commercial success, performed in both Moscow and Leningrad, and internationally acknowledged - it had had a successful set of performances for over two years before Stalin saw it.
    [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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    • P. G. Tipps
      Full Member
      • Jun 2014
      • 2978

      #3
      Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
      Shostakovitch's opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" was banned on order from Stalin, we were told on Today, today.

      Today, they'd just have said, "Sorry mate we're not putting it on - there's no market for that kind of stuff".
      Today 'they' might well have done ...

      But today in a non-totalarian, democratic society one can search for " Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" on the internet and can easily find a recording for free on YouTube!

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      • Serial_Apologist
        Full Member
        • Dec 2010
        • 37641

        #4
        Originally posted by P. G. Tipps View Post
        Today 'they' might well have done ...

        But today in a non-totalarian, democratic society one can search for " Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" on the internet and can easily find a recording for free on YouTube!
        No one had Internet in 1936, even in a non-totalitarian democratic society.

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        • jean
          Late member
          • Nov 2010
          • 7100

          #5
          Nor (even today) would a recording of the opera be easily found if it had never been performed.

          Comment

          • P. G. Tipps
            Full Member
            • Jun 2014
            • 2978

            #6
            Originally posted by jean View Post
            Nor (even today) would a recording of the opera be easily found if it had never been performed.
            'Nor' normally follows 'Neither' does it not?

            However, 'today' was mentioned by S_A and I wrongly assumed he and yourself knew the definitive meaning of the word.

            'Today' is not a convenient concept of one's imagination but a current reality.

            My own reliable advice is that today (though it may require a huge leap of faith for our forum St Thomas's ) both the internet and YouTube actually do exist.

            Comment

            • Pulcinella
              Host
              • Feb 2014
              • 10915

              #7
              Originally posted by P. G. Tipps View Post
              'Nor' normally follows 'Neither' does it not?

              However, 'today' was mentioned by S_A and I wrongly assumed he and yourself knew the definitive meaning of the word.

              'Today' is not a convenient concept of one's imagination but a current reality.

              My own reliable advice is that today (though it may require a huge leap of faith for our forum St Thomas's ) both the internet and YouTube actually do exist.
              Normally, perhaps, but not always.

              .....
              Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
              ...
              does not have a 'neither' either!

              And, like this sentence, Jerusalem gives us a very good example of why it's OK to start a sentence with a conjunction!

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              • jean
                Late member
                • Nov 2010
                • 7100

                #8
                Nor is often used to mean And...not when linking to a sentence containing any sort of negative (eg No one).

                Perhaps we should now move on? ... frankly, I find myself completely relaxed about the matter.

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                • richardfinegold
                  Full Member
                  • Sep 2012
                  • 7660

                  #9
                  Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                  The Opera had been a huge commercial success, performed in both Moscow and Leningrad, and internationally acknowledged - it had had a successful set of performances for over two years before Stalin saw it.
                  It is a bit of a bump in the road when your chief critic is a mass mudering tyrannical despot with unlimited power

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                  • Serial_Apologist
                    Full Member
                    • Dec 2010
                    • 37641

                    #10
                    Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post
                    It is a bit of a bump in the road when your chief critic is a mass mudering tyrannical despot with unlimited power
                    The fate of writers falling ourt of favour was even worse, according to this morning's commentator. "At least" you kept your life as a composer.

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                    • P. G. Tipps
                      Full Member
                      • Jun 2014
                      • 2978

                      #11
                      Originally posted by jean View Post
                      Nor is often used to mean And...not when linking to a sentence containing any sort of negative (eg No one).

                      Perhaps we should now move on? ... frankly, I find myself completely relaxed about the matter.
                      Excellent ... we are now making progress!

                      Comment

                      • richardfinegold
                        Full Member
                        • Sep 2012
                        • 7660

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
                        The fate of writers falling ourt of favour was even worse, according to this morning's commentator. "At least" you kept your life as a composer.
                        Have you ever read Solzhenitsyn "The Gulag Archiplelago"? There is an entire section of one of the volume devoted to Artists in the Gulag, subdivided into sections on Poets, Filmakers, journalists, Prose Writers, Actors, and Composers. There were plenty of them murdered. I remember one poignant tale of a young composer still clinging to the keyboard of the camp Piano trying to finish a Composition as he was dragged out to be shot.

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                        • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                          Gone fishin'
                          • Sep 2011
                          • 30163

                          #13
                          Originally posted by richardfinegold View Post
                          Have you ever read Solzhenitsyn "The Gulag Archiplelago"? There is an entire section of one of the volume devoted to Artists in the Gulag, subdivided into sections on Poets, Filmakers, journalists, Prose Writers, Actors, and Composers. There were plenty of them murdered. I remember one poignant tale of a young composer still clinging to the keyboard of the camp Piano trying to finish a Composition as he was dragged out to be shot.
                          Indeed - DSCH was "lucky" in that he didn't need to use the suitcase he kept packed, ready in case he was taken away in the early hours of the morning.
                          [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

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