How the Soviets tormented their greatest pianist
mainI have written in today’s Spectator about the sufferings of Emil Gilels and other artists under Soviet rule:
Every musician had dealings with the ‘organs of state’ and we have no way of knowing which of them weakened and succumbed. What endures in my mind is this vision of a closed room in which members of a piano trio, a string quartet or a symphony orchestra would look around and wonder, which of my friends is about to betray me? That is the ultimate epitaph of Soviet culture.
Read the full article here.
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