Letters to the Editor

To the Editors:

We recently read an article from your September/October 2008 issue, The Russian Art Boom. We were impressed with the majority of the article and congratulate you for promoting Russian art.

We did notice, however, that our museum, the Springville Museum of Art, was not mentioned anywhere in the article. The Springville Museum of Art houses the largest public collection of Russian art in the United States.

Today we have 311 works, 89 of which are on display in our Russian galleries. Our focus is on 20th century realist works of the pre-Soviet, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras. In contrast to many other museums and galleries, Socialist Realist works comprise the majority of our collection. In addition to our permanent displays, we have also hosted a number of special exhibitions including the current retrospective, Terpsikhorov: Master Artist of Mother Russia. After this exhibition closes in October, it will travel to California and hopefully other venues.

For more information about our Museum’s Russian collection, your readers can visit our website www.smofa.org.

Best Regards,

Nicole Romney

To the Editors:

I read with interest (and nostalgia) the article on David Oistrakh in the Sept./Oct. issue. 

In the autumn of 1967, while studying in Belgrade on a Fulbright Scholarship, I was fortunate to be able to purchase a ticket to David Oistrakh’s concert at Belgrade’s Kolarchev Concert Hall.  The concert hall was packed (standing room in fact).  He played beautifully, as you can imagine,  and at the end he received a long standing ovation.  I loved it.  About a month later I was able to buy a ticket for a Svyatoslav Richter piano concert at the same concert hall (and again the hall was packed).  I remember that his playing was absolutely riveting, and despite ongoing “Richter...Richter” chants at the end of the concert, he did not return for an encore.

That January... I organized for myself a solo trip around the Soviet Union. When I reached Odessa I made a point of going to the famous Odessa Opera House, in order to see where both had played.

Regards, 

Tom Shillinglaw

To the Editors:

I am  Russian  and a devoted reader of your magazine for many years. That’s why I would like to report to you that there is a mistake with the translation on the page 16 in the [Sep/Oct 2008] issue. What is really said on the sign is: “ Madhouse-City, Dreams are Becoming the Truth.”

Best regards, 

Liudmila Grabill